Rising of the Cute Shield
by REDthunderBOAR
Summary: BOFURI: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense Crossover. What happens when Maple takes Naofumi's place? Well, a lot of things change actually.
1. Ch 1: Summoned to a New World

**Low hanging fruit, but hey, its cute fruit! Because I wanted it, I made it for everyone else to enjoy! Anyone know how to add a category to Fanfic, since this will be the first Bofuri story?**

The sun shone through the windows of the chamber as Maple's eyes looked around the strange place. It was an elegant place, marble scaffolding structured to hold up what at first appeared to be a granite roof. Looking behind herself, she could see sitting on a pedestal a golden sword that screamed elegance.

'_Huh, that kind of looks like a rare item? Where am I anyways? Is Sally nearby?'_

Her eyes began to wonder again, searching for her answer to such questions. Finally lowering themselves to the ground, she could see a series of older men standing about them. They were busy high fiving and celebrating, as if they had accomplished a big task that went over her head. She didn't mind though, since most of them looked to be happy after all that must be a good thing for her.

"Oh honorable Heroes, please save our world!" A middle aged man who kind of looked like a priest stepped forward exclaimed with joy.

"Wait, what?" Maple's eyes shifted to rather handsome young men. The one to step forward was the youngest, but still a small bit older than Maple herself.

"Please, before you ask questions I implore that you come visit our liege, King Aultcare Melromarc the Thirty Second. I am a simple priest." He then gave us a slight bow.

None of them, not even Maple could speak up for moments after the man did that. The lul had to end sometime though, and it was another of the young men who did it.

This one was much more 'Japanese' then the other two, and was for some reason carrying a Sword, "Very well, if he can explain the situation then we will listen."

"Thank you, my Lords." The priest took a step back and showed a hand towards the door.

Noone really needed any more prompting as they began to walk forward. Within moments they had exited the chamber to cross a massive bridge that was, well, REALLY high up.

Maple took a moment to look over the edge to see a valley of buildings and civilization, "So pretty, everyone is so small from up here!"

"Liking the sights?" Maple quickly turned around to see a blonde with a spear giving her a charming smile, "Makes you feel like you are on top of the world, eh?"

"Yup!" Maple cheered as she rejoined the party, "Hey, uh, do you know where we are? I was in the library with Sally and then I picked up a book and then I-"

"Whoa whoa there miss." The man raised his hands as if he was being assaulted, "To your question, I don't really know myself. Though I'm pretty sure we just got Isekied."

"Eh, really?"

"Yup, you saw those Priest back there and we all got these weapons too." The boy made a motion with his right hand where a spear was held, "I don't remember really ever holding a spear in my life."

"But I'm not holding anything?"

"You're holding a Shield though?"

"Eh?" The girl took a moment and looked to her side. Sitting on her arm was a rather plain looking buckler, "Huh, I guess it was so light I never noticed it."

"Light, what do you mean by that?"

"Oh, I always carried a Tower Shield around, so this little one feel so light compared to it."

"Is that so, well I feel bad for you." The face of the Spearman simply retorted.

"Huh, but the Shield is the best weapon!"

"No its not, without any offensive capabilities you would be a sitting duck without a party."

"That's why you get some Counter Skills! If they hit you, they take part of the damage they inflict!"

"Such skills are unreliable when you can just stab someone with a spear!" The man made a few quick stabbing motions with his spear.

"When we get a chance after this, I will prove you wrong!" Maple couldn't help but pout at the man's ignorance of her favorite item!

He gave a short laugh, "Yeah, we'll see."

Before Maple knew it they had arrived in a massive great hall, one comparable to the Great NPC Courts of New World Online. To say it was a wonder to Maple was an understatement, everyone seemed even more life like than the VRMMO game she was playing before.

_Did I really get Isekied? It was so random though and I didn't get hit by a truck. Wasn't that one of the Rules Sally said, that you needed to die? _

_Does that mean I'm dead?_

_No silly, how can you be dead when you can still smell things!_

The Hero of the Shield quickly hit her head for thinking such silly thoughts. If she was really in a new world, she must try her best to stay calm, collected, and positive. Yes, that is exactly what she should do!

By the time Maple had finished her train of thought the group was settled in the middle of the room. There was an old man who sat on the throne, who Maple could easily guess that he was this King, uh, she did not really catch his long title.

"Welcome, Heroes of the Cardinal Weapons to Melromarc." The man announced with a very booming voice, "I am the King of this Country, Aultracy Melromarc the Thirty Second. As I appear before you, I ask for your names as well."

The first to announce himself was the one with the Sword, "My name is Ren Amaki of age, I am a High Schooler."

The others soon announced themselves, the bowman being Itsuki and the spearman being Motoyasu. As soon as they had finished I was ready to give my own name.

Before I could however the King spoke, "Alright, the Heroes names are Ren of the Sword, Itsuki of the Bow, and Motoyasu of the Spear. So the weapons have declared!"

_Did he forget about me? Hmm, if he did then would it be okay to correct a King? No, that would be silly and unbecoming of me! I'll just need to talk to him after words!_

"You see Great Heroes, I beseech thee to help our world and save it from the the brink of destruction…"

The girl listened intently to every word that was spoken to them. How the world was being attacked by the Waves, and that they would result in the deaths of millions if not contained by the Heroes proper. How the summons were a last ditch effort to summon people who would defend the people from being annihilated by the monsters that came from it.

_That sounds horrible! These people are in such peril! We really need to help them!_

"As such, I petition you Heroes to help save our world and protect Melromarc from these waves." The King announced while lowering his head towards the group of Heroes.

"Do you expect us all to do that for free?" Maple watched as Ren took a step forward to call out the King, "Even if we wanted to, we can't live just doing that. We all require some monetary compensation in order to pay for food and housing."

"Yeah, I'd do anything for a pretty face but I'd hate to rely on them for keep me afloat."

"Indeed, we cannot live without food and necessities." The line was ended with Itsuki who stood with his chest high in the sky.

"Indeed! Which is why I have developed a reward policy for you three." The King's head rose as his hand motioned with a swipe, "We will give you initial funding and companions, as well as with every Wave you defeat will be followed by a reward based on performance!"

The group looked between each other, though Maple felt a little let out of the process. Yeah, they need money to survive but asking for it outright like this is a little much. Even an airhead like herself could figure they would be giving them funds as well. It would be horrible to have your heroes starve before they even get to fighting!

"Yeah, that is an agreeable arrangement." Ren announced to the room of guards and trusted advisors of the King.

"Indeed, that is grand." The King sank into his chair as if a great weight was taken off his shoulders, "Then Heroes, I ask that you confirm your statuses!"

While two people in the group were taken over by confusion, Maple instinctively toggled her menu with ease. To her delight it was just like New World Online, including the point spread that she was given at the start. A small, diabolical smile grew on her face as she went straight to increasing her Vitality (Def).

_Yata! Increase my precious Defense. Increase it so that I can never take damage again!_

By the time she was finished with the initial distribution, it looked kind of like this:

Str: 0

Agi: 0

Int: 0

Vit: 125

Dex: 0

A warm bubbly feeling was what Maple felt when she saw those numbers. It was really just a good bit of Nostalgia, remembering her initial foray into the world of online gaming. Though oddly enough her vitality increased a bit more than it did back in her original game.

…

It's probably nothing to be too worried about.

By the time she was finished she heard the ending words of the King, "Now while there is a grand adventure awaiting you all, I ask that you stay the night. I need to requisition the necessary funds together as well as assemble your Champions."

Maple heard the others reply in the positive, which lead to everyone dispersing. Someone had called out to the Heroes to take them to their rooms, but Maple had a King to talk to!

And so she moved, slowly of course, towards the King. While most did not pay attention to the slow moving object, not even the King. As she ascended the steps, the girl had to resort to her tried and true method of, "Mr. King! I need to talk to you!"

"Hmm?" The man turned around just as his guards were assembling. He suddenly assumed a look that seemed to call out seething annoyance, anger, and general confusion, "Do you need anything?"

"I, uh, sorry I am so slow!" The girl exclaimed as she was still only halfway up the stairs, "I wanted to introduce myself to your majesty, but I didn't want to interrupt you!"

"Is… that so?" With those words the King's expression was filled almost completely with confusion, "Very well Hero, what is your name?"

The girl thought about giving her real name to these people, but she was feeling her name was a little complicated, even for herself. So she simply stuck to her game name and gave a bow, "Maple!"

"Maple… is that so?" The man's face grew a small blush, as if the unexpected events did something to his cold hatful heart, "May I ask you why you move so slow?"

"That? Oh it's because of my build!" She said cheerfully as she finally got up the staircase, "Maximum Defense! No one will be able to pierce my Shield!"

The small group of Guards and King watched as the little girl pointed her shield into the air, as if inspiring praise. While the guards did not respond at all, there was a small chuckle from the none other than the King.

He soon just shook his head, "Interesting, I had heard that each Hero takes a different approach to their strength, but it seems you have devoted your entire being to your strongest."

"Well I don't see a reason why not! I'm a super tank after all!" Maple quickly cheered with a gigantic smile.

"Is that so…" The man simply shook his head, "You should make your way to your room, Hero Maple. It will be a long day tomorrow."

Before the man could take a step from her the little girl called out, "Actually, I was wondering if you would tell me where a good hunting grounds is. I want to get some skills before the day ends!"

"But…" The man looked a the innocent face of Maple for another moment, "The forest near our fair Castle is infested with Balloon Monsters. I would suggest you head there if you wish to grind for the night."

"Thank you!" Maple cheered as she turned around and slowly made her way down the stairs. Though she was not getting anywhere fast. There was a small murmur from behind her as Maple turned to see a guard come to her.

He was a modest looking man who seemed to be in his late forties, "His Majesty wishes to extend you thou his mercy, in that I am instructed to take you to the forest so you might arrive before nightfall."

"Is that so? Great!" Right as she finished her words the girl was picked up by the man, almost being manhandled, "Hey, can you put me on your back or something!"

"Hmm?" The man looked over to Maple for a moment, "Nope."

And within ten minutes she was unceremoniously tossed outside of Castle Town's Walls.

76a634d35bde428450edaa6e7bdcda2d


	2. Ch 2: Tasty Rabbit

**Glad to see this is happily received! Now comes a Question for you all, I plan to give her a monster soon as a pet. Do you want her to have 1. A Turtle, 2. A Dragon, or 3. A Mother Fucking Hydra. I will be counting reviews since Fanfiction broke the Polls just recently. **

**Besides that, I thank you all for enjoying this. I feel I nailed Maple's character now, but I do wish for a Beta at some point in my damn writing career. Just to cover some problems that might occur while writing. **

The two guards who stood guard at the gate enjoyed their job a good bit. Since most didn't really like gate duty besides these two, the captain had put forward a movement to give increase pay during the days someone worked the front. While at first some would take over the front gate, the nights had become cold thanks to the nearing winter months.

And so in a twist of fate quite unseen in the realm of Melromarc, let alone the entire world, they two had finally resumed their jobs without issue. Given higher pay they went ahead and bought some heated gauntlets, shoes, and helmet. Higher pay, a stable position, and a rather relaxed atmosphere made the job perfect.

"Hey Evan, did you hear the rumor? Apparently they managed to summon the heroes!" The one on the right announced.

"When did you hear this?" The left side one asked with a raised brow.

"I heard it's the reason Captain Jasper had to leave earlier."

"Weren't they supposed to be summoned in Faubley though? We snatched it from those stuck-up bastards?"

"Even better." The one on the right laughed, "We were fifth in line! No bastards probably never expected Melromarc to pull it off!"

"Is that so…" The left side one pondered, "Doesn't that mean Faubley might be sending spies in soon? You know, to coarse the Heroes into joining them."

"... Fuck. What are we supposed to do about them bastards?"

"Easy, Johnny, we do our job." Evan replied with a smile, "We are both pretty high level anyways, so I find it hard to believe they can get past us."

"What are you two talking about!?" The two men quickly fell to attention and turned to face the speaker.

"Captain Hardacc! We were talking about the latest Gossip!" Evan quickly replied, "Uh, who is that in your hands?"

"Hello~" The little girl said while waving her hand towards the two soldiers, "My name is Maple."

"What she said." Their Captain quickly barked, "She requested to go out adventuring, so his Majesty has given her the chance."

With those words he tossed the little girl past the gate onto the ground. She did not have any time to recover, so she took a face full of dirt.

"Okay you two, I have another task for you!" The two looked back at their commander, "When you finish here you are to go and get her to our Majesty's keep. Am I understood!?"

"B-but sir, we do not finish to morning!"

"Did I stutter!?"

The two twitched in reflex into attention, "No sir!"

"Great, I'm going to get some damn coffee." And with that the man quickly turned around and made his way towards the barracks.

With that over with they slowly turned around, their sights moving to the little girl on the ground. The first to speak up of course was Johnny, "Uh, you okay Miss?"

The girl got up slowly soon dusting off the debris that was on her shirt and pants. She soon turned around and shined the biggest smile either of the men have seen, "Yup, he might have been a little rough but I made it alright." With those words she quite slowly made her way towards the forest.

Of course, the two men watched over her. They watched her for a good minute in confusion as she walked into it. But after that minute they had lost sight of her.

"Hey, was that the Shield Hero?" Evan quickly asked when they were sure that she was out of ear shot.

"Maybe? You think he'd be that cute?" Johnny quickly rebutted.

"You know what, you're right." Evan said with a happy laugh, "How the Hell would the Shield Hero be that girl who just left us. The same one who got metaphorically thrown out of the Castle and _we were order too _bring back to the keep."

Johnny thought to himself for another moment before nodding, "Okay, maybe."

For Maple, the way over was quite uneventful. For the most part people looked at her with a confused expression as the Guard carried her to the gate. Though it did not really bother Maple, since she was used to people thinking about her like that.

Either way, she was now taking a short stroll through the forest. Her eyes looking about to see if there was any monsters about. It did not take very long, as within moments a small group of three creatures came barreling towards her.

"Balloon Monsters? Those are new!" She cheered as they quickly slammed into her.

The three foes quickly went about biting her, trying their best to injure the being who dared come into their territory. If they were not mindless however, they would have quickly realized that their efforts were for not.

"Kya ha ha ha! This is just like before the Maple Patch!" The girl cheered as her damage reduction easily countered all the damage these little dumb fellows could dish out. Since they were not doing anything she grabbed one of the balloon monster with a small bit of drool coming out of her lip.

"Itadakimasu!" And with that she bit into the ravage beast. It was quite tough, causing her to try and tear it with a ravage pull. Soon enough though the beast was torn into pieces, giving her free reign over its corpse.

_Tough and no taste. I guess they are balloons after all, so I will need to find some more meaty foes!_

With that she continued on her way, with the other two balloons still trying their best to nom her. They were truly pathetic, the race of balloons. Their flesh was most comparable to that of rubber, which meant that they were only used as balls or bludgeoning resistant armor. Most remains were simply relegated to that of children toys when slain by wimpy adventurers. On the manner of strength, well Maple completely forgot they were chewing on her.

"Now what else is there. Please don't make them all Balloons, they are so tasteless!"

As if the world was responding to her cry, a small pair of beady red eyes came alight in a bush. As Maple did not have any survival instinct thanks to her build as a tank, so she was completely oblivious as the horned rabbit did a sneak attack.

Such horn did strike its target. However much to the rabbits surprise it did not receive any purchase of blood or guts. No, instead it felt a hand snatch it from its stunned stupor.

"Nom. Nom nom nom nom." The creature was quickly eaten up my Maple, who's bite was arguably a weapon. To that effect, the Shield itself tried to figure out if whether or not it should punish the little girl for circumventing its restrictions on additional weapons. However it quickly realized that its wielder needed _something_ in this cruel world. So it decided to allow standard functions to occur.

**Skills received, [Bite: Low], [Provocation], [Disease Resistance: Low], [Poison Resistance: Low], Now Level Three.**

"Hmm? Oh, Yata! I have skills!" The girl cheered as she dropped the bones of the rabbit onto the ground. While a couple of them were things she did not recognize, Total Defense was easily one that she did. Just in case, she opened up her menu and looked to see what exactly she got.

After putting her points into Vitality as usual, she examined the skills she received. Most of the things were self explanatory, but there was one she never saw before this moments

**[Blessings of the Shield]: Increases all Raw Vitality Input by 25%, Increase Experience Gain, Lower Requirements for Skills, Experience Increase for Party Members**

She grew a small smile as she realized what exactly it was. This was basically all good things! She could not only get her skills faster, but she gets more Vitality! Such was the case that could be used in celebration!

"Now, I wonder what else is here? Maybe a Candy Bug?" She mused as the moon slowly rose over the horizon of the forest.

And so she kept on marching through the forest, a good majority of the things that did attack her were those balloon things and the occasional rabbit. It was starting to get a little ridiculous as Maple's entire back was covered in Balloon monsters. BY this time however she had raised her level just that little bit more.

**Now Level 5: Skills Received: [Disease Resistance Moderate], [Poison Resistance Moderate], [Bottomless Stomach],**** [Total Defense], [Devour], [Shield Bash]**

_Should I be a little worried about that Disease and Poison? It keeps coming up every time I eat one of those rabbits? Well, atleast I can increase my Vitality!_

With a few clicks of her hand the little girl raised the stat to a whopping 175 Vitality. For some reason she was receiving even more Points to spend on the Attributes than normal. Such things however just meant she was getting stronger and stronger, which was good for her.

As she reflected on the menu the girl had a slight thought, "Hmm, I haven't tried out the [Devour] skill yet. Maybe for the next Mob I will have my shield eat it!"

She did not need to wait long as within a few moments she caught sight of another Horned Rabbit. The beast was of course mindless, so it quickly turned face to the little girl who was covered in Balloons. No need to provoke it was needed as the beast quickly charged towards the little girl horn first.

"Oh, you're approaching me!" She cheered while bringing the shield to bare towards him, "[Devour]!"

While once in the game it would have been just a simple animation of the shield, this time it was something much different. Her dinky shield had suddenly become animated, a pair of metallic jaws jetting out into a maw. The Mindless Rabbit without any mind to save itself fell directly into the jaws. They closed with a loud snap and a sickening grind as both flesh and bone were eaten.

**New Shield Discovered: Horned Rabbit Shield (Skill [Bullrush] unlocked)**

"Huh, that was bloody and awesome!" Maple cheered as she quickly went into the menus. She took a moment to look at the brand her options given to her. With a few presses the once plane Shield transformed.

The silver design was now replaced with a fury white, a pair of small beady red eyes settled on the lower half of the Shield. What laid prominently upon it however was a massive horn that jetted out of the center. While the original rabbit's horn was white, this one was a greenish tint, sort of like the center gem that was on the older version.

"Yata! This means I can stab them with my shield!" Maple had already read the description of the skill that came with the Shield, and with a Balloon in sight she decided to test it out, "[Bullrush]!"

There was a small jolt as Maple was quite literally thrown towards the creature. With incredible speed she crossed the small distance and impaled the Balloon with the pointy end of her Shield. Though as it happened, the horn started to glow and the balloon was absorbed into the Shield.

**[Yellow Balloon Shield Unlocked], +5 Resistance to Bludgeoning**

The Shield Hero looked over the text for a moment, enjoying the new bonuses. However, an idea suddenly entered her mind, "Wait, you stole my meal!"

As if responding to her complaint a sudden message appeared before her, **{Insert Goods and Monster Corpses to receive new and better Shields.}**

"But that doesn't mean you can just eat them yourself!"

**{To initiate Process, simply place the Sacrifice on the gem, to which it will be absorbed instantly.}**

Maple looked at her pesky prompt as if it was a staring contest. However she was merely human, she soon relented, "So I guess you want to eat as well?"

**{The potential for new Shields are limitless.}**

"I guess so, lets see what you can eat!"

**[Oak Wood Shield Unlocked]**

**[Orange Balloon Shield Unlocked]**

**[Ant Shield Unlocked]**

**[Grass Shield Unlocked]**

**[Dirt Shield Unlocked]**

**[Bush Shield Unlocked]**

**[Berry Shield Unlocked]**

**[Berry Bush Shield Unlocked]**

**[Red Wood Shield Unlocked]**

**[Wood Series Shield Unlocked]**

**[Blue Balloon Shield Unlocked]**

**[Green Balloon Shield Unlocked]**

**[Pink Balloon Shield]**

**[Red Balloon Shield]**

**[Greater Horned Rabbit Shield Unlocked]**

**[Horned Rabbit Mutant Shield Unlocked]**

**[Fur Shield Unlocked]**

**[Horned Rabbit Guardian Shield Unlocked]**

**Skill Increased, [Bite: Moderate]**

**[Impaler] (+5 to Piercing Attacks)**

**[Total Defense]**

**Level 8**

"Hyaa! [Shield Bash]!" Maple cried out as she impaled the last three Balloons on her Shield. Ever since she received the Horn Rabbit Shield her rate of killing things has increased dramatically. Though there was the occasion where she needed to take a bite out of a stray balloon who survived being impaled.

She also learned some things about her skills. Like for one they no longer had a limit to their use, but instead she was bound to a system called SP. For example, [Shield Bash] uses 10 SP, [Bullrush] uses 30, and lastly [Devour] was at 50. Luckily, it seemed her SP cap increased for every point of Vitality she put in.

"Yata! So did you like that Shield-Chan?"

**{You have unlocked 19 Shields Today}**

"Awesome!" The little girl cheered, but as soon as she finished the ground beneath her feet started to shake. Since she was a Japanese, she did not pay too much attention to it until the ground around her started to fall apart.

Soon arising from the ground was a massive thing. Its body was a little long, its massive form that of a rabbit. Maple looked to see a massive set of horns coming out of its skull. What would have been small beady red eyes were now the size of Maple's arm.

**Horned Rabbit Queen Lv. 15**

A small smile and the licking of chops was what Maple did as she looked at the massive thing, "Yata! I found the Boss!"

"**Graah!"** The mighty beast yelled as it finally awakened from its slumber. Being the Royal of Horned Rabbits, it tended to sleep for years at a time. Occasionally it would awaken when the population of Horned Rabbits become low so that it can farrow a new stock of Monsters.

Now though, it was feeling threatened. All its potential suitors have been killed, all eaten by the trespasser in some way, shape, or form. Such a menace needed to be put down now, or her entire race would be placed into jeopardy!

And with those thoughts the beast went for a [Bullrush], its horn aimed to impale its enemy!

"Kya!" Maple let out a yelp as the massive beast impacted her Shield. While she only took a small bit of damage from the attack, her arms simply cried from the impact. With a slight movement of her shield the rabbit's horns were sent to the side with a thunderous crash.

With the side of the beast exposed, Maple moved herself so that the Shield's horned tip pointed directly at the exposed side of the Queen. With the weapon glowing she called out her skill, "[Bullrush]!"

With that cry of power her body moved in an instant, jamming itself into the side belly of the beast.

"**Rawr!" **The beast screamed as the small splinter of Maple impacted. On reflex the being tried to slam the splinter into the ground, but somehow such a thing just stayed on it! It could feel the wound expand even as it tried to bash itself against a tree!

As for Maple, she was holding onto the great beast for dear life. Let it be if she was squished, slammed, or bettered the Hero of the Shield held onto the Queen. Her hands were like an iron grip on both the Shield and the beast as she was in for the ride.

"Okay, time for me to fight back!" She yelled as the beast once more threw her into the ground, "[Devour]!"

With the cry her Shield once more animated, this time taking the form of a Horned Rabbit. With a swift action of its maw the Shield bit right into the Horned Rabbit Queen! It was a tight grip, one that scales not with the user's Strength but their Vitality. As such, No matter how hard it tried the Horned Rabbit Queen could not shake off the tick that was Maple!

"Hyyyaaa!" However, the girl was still along for the ride as the Royal Beast tried its best to buck her off.

At this moment it was truly a neck and neck race on who would reach zero first. While the Hero had the advantage in endurance and long term damage, the Beast was both higher level and on the same tier as a Queen. Its bucks were enough to kill the other heroes, let alone the average man.

So the Hero had to employ her last method of attack, one that has downed many foes both human and monster alike!

"Nom…" She Maple sank her teeth into the flesh of the monster, she felt her entire body elaight!

_Its sooooo gooooood! _

"Nom nom nom nom nom-!"

"**Gah!"**

Such is the fears of all being who are large. The fear of something as small as a nat and as durable as a tick grew the ability to bite through the fleshy outside. Its thrashing, slams, and bucking were at a whole new height. The reality of death was already creeping into its mind as the little girl finished with its skin to further bite into the muscle below.

It was not much longer as the Queen of the Horned Rabbits began her death throws. Once her teeth punctured an organ its days were numbered. More so that it was luckily the heart that was bitten into, causing all her attacks to change from standard damage to critical bites.

With about a fourth of Maples health remaining, the beast went limp. The body fell onto the ground with another great shake.

Within the next few moments the corpse of the beast seemed to move just slightly before it started to collapse towards the center of the beast. There was a soft green glow as the carcass finished being consumed by the shield. Soon enough, the Rabbit Queen's corpse was no more, leaving behind only the slayer of such a beast.

**[Queen of the Horned Rabbits Shield Unlocked]**

**[One Who Feasts on the Living]**

**[Bite: Moderate]**

**Skill Unlocked, [Dominion of the Horned Rabbits]**

**Level 12**

"Yata… I beat it." She tiredly celebrated with a raised hand, "I'm going to find a place to sleep."

And with that she slowly made her way to the nearest tree and laid next to it. With one of the greatest beasts of the forest slain, only the foolish Balloons would approach her.


	3. Ch 3: Guards and Champions

**Polling has closed, you will find out the true result in a few more chapters. **

**Thank you all for the great reception in receiving this story! I love reading each of your reviews when they come into my mail box. Now if someone could make BOFURI have its own category that would be great, since it seems Fanfiction slowed down on doing that. **

The morning sun rose from behind the surrounding hills indicating Evan and Johnny's workday was done. At such a time the two would return to their homes and either make some breakfast/dinner or start regretting the fact they took such a shift.

As one would guess, no honest wife would tolerate having a husband that always wanted to work the night shift. Even meeting regular people and having friends would be out of the question. Instead, they would meet the occasional delinquent, slave trader, or prostitute who wished to seduce them to get free passage into the city. Sadly, when there are two men standing guard (along with a bastard of a commander behind them) such attempts become annoying, frustrating, and awkward to deal with in that order.

Today however they were not going to their emptied homes. Upon order from Hardacc they were making their way towards the forest outside the castle.

"Johnny, why the hell are we following the bones for?" Evan asked as they traveled through a brush of weeds.

"It's a gut feeling, I swear!"

"Well, I guess yours never proved us wrong." The man gave a slight chuckle, "Like that time that weird merchant tried to bring in narcotics!"

"Opium Man? Yeah he was a blast and a pain." Johnny snickered as well, "Who would have guess all those slaves were actually warriors from Siltvelt?"

"Yeah, but who would have known the Horned Rabbits would eat the entire stock? Damn bastards were high for a week."

"Lessened learned by the Captain." The soldier raised a single finger in the sky, "The best disposal method is burning it, not sending it off a cliff side thinking nothing down there would get back up."

"Yeah, those fuckers were flying weren't they."

"Yup. I'm just happy it was enough to clear us for Advancement." Johnny said again with a laugh, "Though this is starting to get a little unnerving, don't you think? With this many bones it's starting to remind me of those Rabbits."

Even gave a mindful nod, "Meatless bone, the carcasses of Balloons everywhere, and everything else still intact looks to have been impaled. I don't wanna deal with them again."

"Then lets double time it, hopefully the Queen is still sleeping in her hole!"

"Ah fuck, you're right!"

And with that the two soldiers quickly made their way through the forest. Since both were still in heavy armor, their movements caused all the pacifist birds to flee from their branches. However, no monster came to meet them, a sign that one of the Royals had walked the land.

"Oh fuck!"

"Damn it! She's loose!"

What the two were now staring at was the massive hole that looked to be burrowed out of the ground. Their memories of her last '_trip' _became fresh in their minds.

Numerous reports of a creature that would murder those unaware of her presence. Most who told of these accounts were that those who first incurred her wraith die first, followed by local peasants.

If the guard found her they could likely kill her, but she was known to never be seen until it was too late. Such was the trail of blood and guts left by the Queen of the local Horned Rabbits.

So they continued to run, their eyes searching every bush and heavy treeline for the beast. It was rumored that she acquired a stealth skill when she was only a youngling, and as a queen she was able to hide even in low brush. Impalement followed those who were fools.

The path of her destruction was wide and terrible, the one they followed. Bushes were thrown around and trees were uprooted. The corpses of smashed monsters laid on the ground, none of them able to get out of her way when she came stampeding along.

Soon enough the two men landed in a large clearing about 50 yards wide, "Well Johnny, where is she?"

"Considering there is no more destruction, I'm pretty sure the Queen finished whatever fight occurred here." The soldier answered with a small sigh, "What do you think got her in the first place? Was it that Shield Girl?"

"Yeah, that Maple girl's probably dead. Kind of sucks, you know."

"Probably. She might have been a Shield, but at least she had a go get em spirit."

Evan gave a slight sigh in reluctance, "At least we need to find her corpse. Hardacc would have a field day if we didn't return her to the keep in some capacity."

"Yeah, that Motherfucker."

And with that the two men split off looking across the forest floor for a body that was more like a pancake. As they looked there were plenty of monster corpses to go around in that state, but nothing even remotely humanoid in the area.

However, something caught the eye of Johnny as he approached the outskirt, "Hey Evan, I see something fucking weird over here."

"I'm coming- what the fuck is that?"

The two ran over to the very odd thing. Sitting at the edge of a field was a massive blob of orange. Once they were close up to see, the two were stopped in their tracks.

"_Is that a… Balloon Orgy?"_ Evan asked with a small bit of caution.

"_You know those things are only rumors."_ Johnny whispered back, "_Everyone knows that Balloons come out of the ground every time someone stubs their toe!"_

"_Look in front of us and tell me what you see. This answers the mystery of how Balloons spawn!"_

What neither of the two knew, is that in truth Balloons are asexual reproducers. Originally they were created by a hero named Orichy as a children's toy for the kids in town and protectors for when they are away from their parents. Since it was a children's toy, he made them reproduce similar to bacteria with more confetti and popping involved. Such events, however, were programmed to be done outside of people's view in order to not scare the children.

As with all great inventions he forgot that humans (especially children) are naturally accident prone. It was within a week of the initial creation that too many Balloons were escaping due to the nature of the children who owned the Balloons. All the Balloons were either let outside of their homes by accident, or left unattended. Soon, they were blown into the nearby forest and became feral protectors of the forest.

Such was the ignorance of the standard Melromarcan.

However, our two soldiers here were still willing to learn. Such an attitude is why they started to poke at the blob with their swords. Being at such a high level and with modest weaponry, they simply were popping the balloons like they were, well, balloons.

"Hey, I think I see something?"

"Yeah, that's a human!"

"Shit, kill them all!"

It only took 10 seconds for the men to finally clear out all the balloons, though the faces they gained were quite hard to describe.

Evan was the first to kneel down and look at her, "Hey, isn't this Maple? You know, the little girl who we were supposed to retrieve?"

"Looks like it… Fucking hell she looks like she's gone through hell."

Evan placed his hands towards her nose, "Damn she is fucking alive, somehow. I mean how many of them were there!"

"Lost count at fifty." Johnny said while kneeling down and shook her shoulder a little.

The little girl moved a little and curled up into a ball, "_Mmm, tasty rabbit." _

"..." Evan simply shook his head at the being in front of him, "Well she's not going to wake up. Should we just take her to the Castle and have them figure out what to do with her?"

"Yeah, better than that Three Heroes Church. I'd bet ten coins if we took her to the Three Heroes Church we'd get charged for her Healing treatment."

"Yeah, Queen doesn't know what she brought in with that Free Investiture." Evan once more complained before moving the girl onto his back, "Come on, little Miss, we need to get you home before Hardacc wakes up."

"Don't say it like that, Evan. Someone might say something!"

"And what, accuse me of doing something to this girl. You make a nice joke."

While in what could roughly be called reality the two soldiers carried her up to the Castle, Maple was having a swell of a time in unreality. She was currently looking into the sky, the sight of monsters all falling from cracks that had appeared. Below her were hundreds of bones of those that came before them.

What caught her attention was the massive three headed beast that flew about in the sky, its presence bringing dominion over the battlefield. Such a beast with its strong muscles and exotic flavor. With its strengths it was sure to be a delectable meal. Such thoughts were just making Maple's mouth water.

Yes, for Maple, this was not the apocalypse incarnate, but an all you can eat buffet. It was the simple naivety of Monsters and Evil Gods have; to think they were not just fueling the first coming gourmet revolution.

It was after this moment that the dream started to stir, a pin drop in the vast waters as consciousness finally returned to Maple. Her movements were a little awkward considering she was now fitted with a chain shirt that was just a little too big for her.

"... back Heroes to my throne room. From here you will…"

Maple had to shake her head a bit as she looked at her surroundings. Her eyes searching the room for where in this new world she was. There were a bunch of people standing around, along with a big throne in which the same king from yesterday was standing.

_But I was in the forest, did I sleep walk back here?_

Slowly she got up from her spot among the three other Heroes. Each of them were trying their best to stand tall, but each and every one of them found it a little hard to concentrate as the little girl got up from her spot.

And I for one would agree with them, since when they got in here the heroes watched a pair of guards set her down on the ground. The Heroes didn't her last night at dinner nor when they retired for their beds. Why, they even wonder whether or not she simply ran away because of the stress.

The King, Auctley Melromarc the XXI, did not stop to address her, "And so it is with my honor that I present to you our Champions. These individuals will serve under you in the thick and thin, to bleed and sweat for you. All in order to save our realm from the Waves."

That last part of his speech was what Maple luckily caught, her eyes being drawn to the line of people who appeared assembled just behind them. There were quite a few people, twelve in all. If Maple had to be the judge she would say most of them were definitely older than her, maybe late teens early twenties.

There was a small murmur from the Heroes about the candidates all looking pretty good but such words were smothered as the King announced, "Champions, please choose your hero!"

And with a small confusion coming from the Heroes, the Champions forming lines behind each of them. Well, all of them except for Maple, who was still only now figuring out what was happening.

Maple of course could not stop herself from yawning, "Does that mean I won't... get anyone at my party?" In truth she still felt quite full and wanted to keep sleeping, like one would expect of a Dragon who ate an entire village.

The other heroes who were looking over their bountiful boons all turned to look towards Maple, their expressions all in all confused. The first to speak up, of course, was Motoyasu, "Yeah, she can't be going at it alone. I would be hard pressed to see a Shield user suffer from not having anyone to kill things for them."

Maple, the advent Shielder, was about to correct him about being unable to kill things but the King was the first one to speak, "Indeed oh Spear Hero, that would be a grace issue indeed. How-"

Before the King could say something more a man leaned into his ear. If Maple recognized him right, it was the priest who had welcomed them to the world at the very beginning. The King's eye furrowed and gave a simple shake of the head as the man rose from his spot at the King's side.

"It has come to my attention that there is a rumor going around that she is not well to work with." He answered with a flourish of his hand, "It seems to be due to her delinquency at the previous nights Dinner of Heroes. In her time outside, she seems to have awakened a monster that poses a threat to the Kingdom."

"Hey, things can't be that bad." The spearman turned towards the women behind himself, "Can one of you join her, if not for a little while? I can't believe she caused so much trouble in being here for only a day."

Maple felt a little happy when the Spear Guy and now Bow guy were asking their parties to send at least one person to help her. However there was an oddity, that one being the Hero of the Sword. It was more like he was studying her like a detective would a crime scene.

In the end no one move, which brought the King to simply shake his head, "It dishonors myself, house, and country to have this happen to you. In such a case I will-"

"Wait!" A girl called out from the back of Motoyasu's group, making her way over towards the front, "I cannot take this any longer while staying idle and watch while a little girl is thrown into the wider world without a companion! I will become a Champion who serves the Shield!"

"Wha-" The King's eyes were wide for a moment until a hand was placed on his shoulder. The Priest who stood behind him simply shook his head solemnly, causing almost all rage to flatten out of the King's face.

With that the King turned back with a solemn expression, "Are you sure about that, uh, Myne was it not?"

"I am." She answered with a smile that easily fooled everyone within the room she stood.

The King took in a breath with a hint of regret of what he was doing, "Very well, you shall be part of the Shield's Party."

As Myne got behind Maple she gave a massive smile to the girl, "It is a pleasure to meet you! I hope we can get along well!"

"Oh, we will." Myne said while returning a smile back to Maple. As the little girl saw it however, it might have been her nature or womanly instincts but something seemed wrong with it. Maple however could not put her finger on it and simply went with the motions.

The King talked to an aide for a moment, the orders both received and carried out. Before the Heroes were four bags of coin, all being held by a series of courtiers.

"You will now all receive your dividends for the battles ahead. All will receive 500 Meloran Silver Pieces, with the exception of the Shield. She will receive 800, so that she can become better equipped and gain allies. After every Wave within Melromarc we will provide a reward such as this."

Everyone, including Maple, was given a small bag of coins. Seeing it gave Maple a small welt of hope in her chest. Oh, the chances to purchase things of at least a medium tier quite excited the little girl as it gave a small jingle.

"With this my Heroes, set out and forge your Legends!" The King cheered as he stood from his seat in applace. Everyone else did the same, two of the Heroes caught up in the emotions as they quickly ran out the door with celebration.

As the crowd dispersed however there was a small call from the King, "Shield Hero, I require a word with you."

Maple nearly jumped when the man said that, "D-did I do something wrong!?"

"That I do not know yet." The King said while his eyes narrowed upon the small girl, "I require a report of what you have done the previous night. It could be a matter of my Realm's security."

With nothing more to say Maple went up towards the King, with the Sword Hero Ren slowly approaching to listen in. Due to their statuses, none of the Champions were permitted to approach. Even those who really could think it would be wiser to stay away from the insewing event.

The King did not care much for the Sword Hero to be listening. Actually it would be much better if he was there so the other Heroes know better, "Hero of the Shield, I desire to know what happened last night."

"What did I do last night? Well, I went out and grinded some monsters. Was I not supposed to?!" The little girl's cheeks went bright red as she cowardly thought of doing something bad.

"No, Shield Hero, that is not a bad thing for you to do." the man shook his head with memories of his youngest daughter coming to mind, "I simply wish to know if you happened to meet the Horned Rabbit Queen in combat."

"That one?" She tilted her head slightly before nodding, "Yup, I was able to kill it too!"

The King gave the girl a soft nod, "Can you provide any proof?"

"I think? Here weeee go!" With a little work the Shield transformed into something much larger than the average Horned Rabbit. It was a round Shield, one that covered Maple's entire body with the nasty face of the Horned Rabbit Queen up front. Her wicked horns jutting from the center ready to impale someone if they cross her path.

"Well Shield Hero…"

Aultcray was a man who did not like the legends of the Shield very much, that much he could admit. He had to fight against the Shield's spawned nation of Beastman that always desired to tear into his family, people, and nation. The days of blood were all too familiar as the King remembered his triumph against their barbaric and monstrous hordes of younglings.

His perceptions of the Shield would be like an American Warvet's opinion on Charlamagne. It was so far in the past it did not matter but, if asked whether they liked the man who set the groundwork for future Germany, well his opinion would be found negative.

"Then I must thank you for slaying her. Even I, King of Melromarc and Hero of the Cane has failed to find her. She awakens only once every fifteen years, so I wonder why she was out when it was an off season. I do however recognize the face of the bitch who ran into the ground at the sight of me!"

Opinions change with action.

"So I'm not in trouble?"

"No you are not, Maple of the Shield." The King waved his hands for a moment, "I do not require you any more. Proceed with your adventure"

"Thank you!" And with those words Maple started to leave.

However, there was one more person to whom wished to speak to her, "So you were grinding last night?"

"Oh, Mr. Ren! Sorry I didn't see you!" The girl panicked while truely being so oblivious that she thought she was alone for the moment.

"I just want to know how you got that Shield." He said while pointing to the item on her arm.

"This? I just fed my Shield materials of the monsters I kill!" She answered cheerfully.

"Is that so, I will try it then." He answered with a nod, "Then I wish you luck, trust that I won't fall behind you simply because you had a day's head start."

"Sure, I look forward to it!" Maple cheered when they met up with their parties. Maple quickly turned to Myne with a priceless smile, "So, what should we do first? I think we should grind!"

"While that would be nice, I am in need of better protection and a sword." the girl before her answered with a smile, "We will be heading to the smith first."

"Okay, sounds good!" Maple answered ready to make her way into the new world once more.


	4. Ch 4: A Smith and a Bitch

**Well I say that my work has been cut out for itself, you guys have been growing quite well. As far as I can tell, Fanfiction has yet to recognize Bofuri as a proper Anime so I'm still waiting on that.**

**Leave a review as I love reading them both negative and positive. **

It was a little past noon with the streets full of people as they passed by the stores of Castle Town. Since the yearly harvest had occurred just recently a vast amount of the stalls were filled with surplus farmers hoping to sell for other needed items. Many were men and women from outside of town; representing the villages they came from and bringing money for their own homes.

Within a few days some would go back with a fortune large enough to buy out entire farms, but they had made a gamble earlier in the year instead. Most of their goods would normally have been bought on credit, to which they would pay back at the end of harvest. With that money and their reserves, the few would be able to hunker down for winter and wait for spring to come.

However there was a small chunk of people missing from here. The Waves have made their mark in killing a large amount of people in the County of Sea Rock. While the ripples are not felt here in Castle Town very much, the people of the Duchy are surely to suffer a brutal winter.

Winter, however, is only a few months away. It would be up to the rulership to figure out ways of keeping the granaries filled for those villages. There are only a few dangerous options they could do like go into debt, assemble a series of cold crops, or even request the aid of Heroes from the Queen's Court.

Whether they respond, well the Church of the Three Weapons recommends that you give them a donation to make things move easier.

Our vision zooms in on a pair of people making their way down the streets. They had been walking for quite some time, shopping around at the various stores to see what any of them could provide. The taller of the two would make a motion towards an item but, with a shake of a head and a small reply the smaller one would force the group to continue down the street.

Eventually, the ringing of a soft, brass bell announced the arrival of the two into a store they both agreed to enter: the blacksmith shop.

"Welcome to Erhard's Armor and Swords, I have every weapon for your every need!" He proclaimed as he looked upon the incoming fellows. Said look caused him to take a pause, his eyes widening in disbelief.

He did not even need a second look to realize that a royal had walked into his shop. Myne Sophia, otherwise known as First Princess Malty S. Melromarc. It was an open secret when it came to her secret identity since the girl openly flaunted her authority in almost every city she entered. He hadn't been in the guild halls in a while, but even he's heard the rumors of 'Myne' purposefully getting her party killed so she could collect their property under crown authority.

Next to her was a little girl who looked no older than fifteen years of age. She had a smile that (to him) was as wide as the sky was broad. He felt a small tug in his cold heart as the two walked up to the counter.

"Hello there, I'm Maple!" The little girl called out with a wave, "We are looking for some armor and a weapon to help my friend here."

"Is that so..." His ire turned towards the questionable Noble, "Am I to guess she is your companion?"

"Nn!" She cheered while running over towards the swords, "Okay Myne, this one looks practical. It looks like it's going to be in our budget!"

"Whoa there girl," the Blacksmith cried out while raising his hands, "Shouldn't you buy yourself some armor first? Looks like you are wearing something that is way too big for your frame."

"Excuse me sir," The Princess turned to the smith with a smile, "But I do need a new weapon. If I am to be traveling with the Shield Hero I will need the best armaments money can buy."

"_Shield Hero..?" _Erhard, the smith himself, mouthed those words as he eyed the little girl. His [Eyes of Appraisal] quickly latched onto the Shield on her arm. A sudden headache behind his eyes forced him to stop his appraisal magic, but he now knew what he was dealing with.

"So you _are _with the Shield Hero." He answered with a shaking of his head, "Still, the Hero needs some better fitting armor, so she needs to go first."

"You are sure about that?" She asked with a crooked smile forming on her face, "Depending on what you do here, bad things can surely happen."

"While I am sure her majesty's wallets are bottomless, they are not mindless." And with that the smith turned towards Maple who was admiring some of the armor on the other side of the shop , "Say, Maple wasn't it? Let's get you some armor that fits."

"Me? But you need to get Myne her weapon..." The girl called out; making her way towards the counter.

"How about this, I'll give you a discount on the weapons if you let me fashion you up some armor." The kind smith called with a laugh, "Now come on over and lets look at the sets."

Maple hesitated for a moment, but seeing the man's smile convinced her to almost skip over to where he was standing. Seemed he was doing this for her own good, and a discount would not be go admissed.

"So, what's your budget looks like young lady?" He asked once she arrived at the counter.

"Her budget will be 300 for her armor and 500 for the weapons." Myne said directly with a face that seemed to almost snarl.

"No, a weapon won't be necessary for me." Maple said, "I, uh, can't wield any it seems."

"Really, well that's a shame." The middle aged man claimed while scratching the back of his head, "Then that means we are looking at something more like 600 for your personal armor and 200 for weapons?"

"But that means we won't have enough money for food." The girl called out with a pout, "How much money does it take for me to live here?"

"Huh, I guess you wouldn't know." Erhard said. He was now realizing how little that the heroes know about their world, "About 25 Silver can get a person through the week, which is about 250 copper. A gold can get someone a month, which is roughly about 100 silver."

Maple nodded in reply, trying her best to figure out how much she needed to keep to stay in town. Honestly she was not the best with money, that being her friend Sally's department. However, she had a rough idea, except for one thing, "Uh, when are the Waves going to occur? I thought I was going to be paid after they happened."

"Really, you don't know?" Erhard couldn't help but feel a small ping of concern, "I couldn't say since I'm not an Adventurer anymore. I'd say maybe a month."

"Then we neeeeed…." She moved the numbers around in her head while carrying the zero, "about two hundred Silver. So can we make the budget 400 for the armor and 200 for the weapon?"

"Make that 500 for the armor and 100 for the weapon and I think you will be fine."

"Really, so much?" The Hero gave a small pout, "I don't really want to leave my friend without anything."

Erhard took one look between her and Myne Sophia. He had to give Maple credit where it was due, she had a Heart of Gold that would surely melt the thickest of icy hearts. Why, he was being forced to barter so that she didn't spend too much!

His eyes shifted to the rumored Princess, the girl not noticing had a dark expression on her face. He was probably doing the wrong thing for his business by ignoring the royal. She will try her best to destroy his smithy to the point where he would be thrown into jail and probably be executed for some dumb reason like fraud.

But Erhard knew out of everything that these heroes were the world's last chance. He couldn't go out and fight the waves nor could the King of the Cane.

Erhard will make sure that this Hero will start on the right foot for her first Adventure. If worst comes to worse, he will flee to Shieldfreeden or go to some remote village in the middle of nowhere and set up shop there.

"I will halve the price of the sword, meaning you'll be getting a 200 Silver Coin sword for only 100. Final offer."

"Well, I guess that sounds good. Deal!" Maple cheered with a gigantic smile, "Well, do you need my measurements?"

"Indeed," The smith produced a small cloth from his back shelf and threw it to Maple, "Head into the changing room and put on this tunic. Once you get that done, we will get your measurements and desired set."

"Thanks!" And with that she quickly made her way into the room.

With that the two spent the next few hours getting measurements and choosing the sets of armor. Erhard was quite surprised when she asked him to make her full plate armor instead of the standard half plate that he always made for people. When he asked if she was fine not being able to dodge the response was honestly frightening.

"Nope, I plan to take it head on!"

And with that he made sure to add on some chainmail on top of the original design. After a little bit more work and handing her over a sword for the Princess's use.

"Now your armor should be ready within a few days, since I need to make a set in your size." He claimed while putting down the ending enchantments he was going to add, "Just come by in a few days to see if I finish it."

"M'kay, see you then Mr. Erhard!"

And with that she left the shop along with the Princess. Though as they left Erhard saw Myne's eyes laying upon Maple. They held the same amount as malicious as a cheated wife looking upon her husband's newest flame, though he had a feeling the look was not so righteous.

If something bad happens he's basically chosen his side already.

And with that Erhard went back to work, his heart beating the repetitive strikes into the medal needed to forge her armor. Hell, he might be putting too much into this to justify the 500 Silver price he gave the girl.

Yeah, definitely.

* * *

The day's sun had already reached its highest peak and was now slowly running towards the horizon. If Malty had to guess it was about four or five in the evening. Too late to still be out for her liking.

She watched as the peasants slowly gathered their goods and started making their way out, hoping to reach their homes before nightfall. It puzzled her why try to go home every night? They still had to wake up early tomorrow and repeat the process. Why not just get a room at the inn for the night? They could stay open longer and make more money!

It simply pained her that she couldn't shop for longer.

"We have been shopping for quite a bit, Myne. Shouldn't we go grinding or something?" The Shield Hero called out to the Princess.

There was no more reason she could give to stay away from fighting in the forest, no matter how dreadful it was. Everything over there was so low level and they just insta-died to her fire. It would be useless for her to go level there, especially at this stage.

"Sure, I guess." Was all she could answer to keep the charade going.

As they walked towards the forest Malty could not help but loathe the little girl before her. She was an arrogant little thing who always took the attention away from Matly wherever they went today.

The Princess hated how the clerks they visited treated them. They were quite willing to give the shield hero free things, from vials of medicine to a large backpack!

And she had the gauls not to give her weapons first. Yes, the smith was swoon by her innocent charms but Malty knew better. She willingly left the Spear's group for the poor Shield and she in turn has been treated like crap! She is the next in line and she should be treated as such!

Or at least that's what her Father might think. No, there were a lot more-

"Watch out!" Malty felt herself slightly pushed out of the way as the Shield went between her and a balloon. She watched as the balloon bit into the shield itself, the thing trying its best to bite off the shield.

"Tsk, dreadful things." Matly said as she looked at the thing. Slowly she had raised her sword to counterattack, but something odd happened before she could.

"Itadakimasu!" cried the Shield Hero as she yanked the balloon off of her shield. Malty watched as Maple swifty (in such a motion that would have left legendary swordsman to shame) began to ripped into the balloon monster with her teeth. And then kept on eating until there was nothing left.

"W-what the hell did you do?"

"What do you mean?" Maple questioned.

"You ate it! That's-" She was about to finish those words but the Princess simply shook her head. Such words were not to be said, at least while she was with the Shield Hero. No, she would need to wait until she was able to get the girl nailed.

"What was that?" The little midget said as her face was now filled with Balloon.

"Nothing."

And with that they continued on through the forest. Honestly, the Princess did not need to do anything, since the little girl had the ability to consume the lower level mobs. She was able to at least raise her level by one by the time night was coming down upon them.

"Let's make head our way back, eh?" The Princess suggested as she sheathed the sword that was never used.

"Really? But we are just getting started!" The Shield mourned as she placed another balloon into her shield, "Though don't know where all the rabbits went."

"Who cares about some rabbits." Malty claimed with a flick of her skirt, "There are plenty more balloons to kill then those little guys."

"But I wanted to face another of the really big ones!" She said while making a motion of a giant round thing, "It was so tasty that I can still remember it!"

Malty was tempted to tell the Shield to eat normal person's food, but she was not going to. No, that would definitely break her current character and endanger her objective for the evening.

"I wonder if they woudl taste better if I put some spices on them." She watched as the girl started to drool slightly, "Alright, let's head to Castle Town!"

"_Perfect"_ was the response the Princess gave. Her hand slowly rubbing on the small vial of berserker toxin that she had acquired the morning. It was going to be the perfect scheme, in all honesty.

They arrived at the inn they had already arranged to sleep in tonight, both of them sleeping in separate rooms. She convinced the little girl to have dinner with her, a simple meal that almost everyone would eat.

"Hmm, needs something more." The Shield complained as she ate the side of stake, "What kind of animal is this?"

"Oh, it would be from a cow." she answered the girl honestly. Such meats were precious, but something that any hero could not resist. Though as Matly watched the girl bite through the meal it was looking like no reaction was occurring.

Malty's hand rested on the poison in her pocket. It was given to her by the Three Heroes Church Pope. The man was an elusive fellow, surely crawling up the rank with just as much intrigue as she did. Unlike her, he was being used to further her position and obtaining the crown her dumb sister.

It was a plan Malty and the Pope put together this morning. She would serve as the Shield's friend until dinner that night. After which she would poison her meal with a berserker toxin and drive her to attack the nearby populace. The papal guard would be forced to kill her to reinforce the Church's views as well as killing the throne in their side.

In return, they would guarantee their support in getting her on the throne.

"Here, this is a special spice from Faubley." Malty said while sprinkling the powder onto the meal.

"Awesome!" and like that the girl quickly ate the largest chunk the princess had "spiced". Her eyes went wide, but this was not the primary reaction from consumption of the berserker powder, but instead the joyful eyes of someone enjoying it, "That tasted great! Do you have more!?"

She could only click her own tongue, "Unfortunately, I do not."

"Oh, that's too bad. Well, I will make the most of what you have given to me!" And like that she ate the entire plate like it was nothing.

Yeah, the princess is going to need a different angle to get rid of the Shield. It looks like she is going to have to risk throwing her weight. In the end, it will be worth it.


	5. Ch 5: The Court, Clergy, and Shield

Maple's dreams every night seemed to get only stranger and stranger, she would admit. As of right now she was looking over the side of a volcano, the floor underneath it looked to be of solid rock. Somehow she knew that it was in fact so solid one could walk across it and not be burnt by the lava below.

And somehow she knew that was a problem.

So with a small step she threw herself off the edge, flying at top speeds towards the ground. She was sure that her falling speed would be fast enough to shatter the ground below.

However before she could make contact the little girl slowly drifted away from the false reality and into the real one.

"Finally, she's waking up!"

Slowly her eyes opened, Maple's sleepy mind searching everything about the room for what was happening. It did not take the little girl long to realize she was in the throne room once more, an entire audience of people watching her every move. Of course that made her a little worried, but the girl simply shook her head as she looked forward.

Standing on the throne room was the same set up as before, except for two seperate things. The first thing she noticed was that her party member was standing up there with the spear fellow placing a cloak over her. Next to them was the King with a face full of fury.

"You have finally awakened, Shield Hero!" The man barked with a face full of red, "How could you sleep so soundly after what you have done to my daughter?"

"Hmm?" Maple simply tilted her head as she looked upon the assembled court, "You had a daughter?"

"Guh!" The man's went more red, "Of course I would have a daughter! My two very lovely daughters, one of which you have tormented!"

"I did?"

"Of course you did! Matly, tell this fiend and all the court what happened!"

"It was most dreadful Father!" The redheaded princess cried out while gripping her own arm, "She had done so many wrongs to me! I can still feel the defilement I experienced with her hands! The pain and tourture I have experienced was immense!"

A long pause swept through the throne room at the exclamation. Maple was starting to think she did not wake up, but just went into another absurd dream.

"So I demand of you, oh Shield Hero, do you have any defence against my own daughter! You commited Battery, Assault, and Molestation upon her."

"... uh, what?" Was all anyone could hear from the little girl. The crowd then erupted in anger as if spurred on by a religious fervor.

While the crowd seemed to have began to be railed up in both hatred and doguma, the two other heroes who had assembled watched with confusion. To them it was an obviously stacked court against the little girl, their supposed comrade at arms.

For Ren of the Sword his heart was burning, "What the hell is this!?"

"She's a Devil in Sheep's clothing, Ren!" Motoyasu called out as the Princess collapsed into his arms, "She freaking eats monsters alive!"

"Why the hell does-!"

"Hero of the Sword, while I must respect you this is an issue between my people and the Shield Hero before us!" The King made a motion with his hands to people all about the room, "Unless you wish to suffer the penalties of obstructing Justice, you are to stay down."

"What the… tsk." The boy could only click his tongue at that. Whatever these penalties truly be, he does not really know. However, from what he is seeing before himself he will need some serious firepower in the coming months.

For Itsuki this situation was interesting in how these people seemed to follow the orders of the King. Even when it was obviously wrong they listened to the man who declared himself to be justice across the land. In his impressionable mind, it was a show on what it could mean to symbolize justice.

"I ask you one last time, Shield, do you have a defense for these crimes?" The King once more demanded.

"..." She did not have much of an answer now, as the people around her were getting more and more rough. Boos came from the crowd, the roars of the crowd's motions, and the remaining cries for her death were all on display. She never experienced something like this before, and the reality of the situation finally striking her like a prey who's life the predator snatched.

It started with a few steps backwards, eyes widening at everyone. Soon though it developed into knots in her heart as she realized this was not safe. Her breath started to draw shorter, her heartbeat matched the beat of a hummingbird's wings.

While her feet were shaky, there was one thing she instinctively trusted.

She raised the Shield.

"Then I proclaim guilty." The King declared as he made a motion with his hands. He turned his attention to the wailing crowd, "I cannot in good faith kill the Shield Hero, however, I shall remove all your wealth and possessions you obtained at the crown's expense."

The proclamation has been made, the Majesty's word made known to all within the room. Those of the guards who were waiting for their chance left their position, slowly making their way towards the Shield Devil.

Yes, they would finally be able to torment the thing who caused everyone so much sorrow. Some of them had even a few ideas, and were licking their chops in anticipation.

However as they drew closer to the Shield hero, the jeers and cheers slowly died down, so much to the point that even the guards stopped in the silence.

The crowd was something special, all of them either fierce devotees of the Three Heroes Church or Nobles who agreed with the doctrine. Before the arrival of the Shield hero, the Pope himself of the Three Heroes Church said a few words to rile up the crowd. Such words took hold through the beliefs of the crowd making their energy equal that of a Christian Crusader on route to Jerusalem. The feeling in the crowd however changed as they witnessed a little girl try to defend herself with her small shield as the larger, adult soldiers surrounded her.

They did not see the Devil, no they saw the truth. And they couldn't handle the truth.

"Release her!" Ren quickly yelled at the top of his lungs, the man quickly taking a step forward.

Aultcray was about to say something but within moments the crowd shifted. Their ire was now changing direction from the Shield towards the King. The spell once casted upon them had broken, and old instincts from years ago started to build up in Aultcray's veins.

Things were getting dangerous, and the crowd was considering his death for this event.

However at this moment the Priest behind him simply shook his head and whispered in the King's ear. No one knew what he was saying, and from what many knew was completely uncalled for in this scenario. It was not the right of the Court Ecclesiarch to advise the King in this scenario.

And to the people of Melromarc, they were Melrans before they were members of the Three Heroes Church.

The King simply shook his head towards the priest, the room obviously becoming cold as he stood up, "Hero of the Shield, I ask you to stand."

"Huh?" She slowly looked up from what was now the Rabbit Queen Shield at the King, "Y-you are not going to hurt me, right?"

"I will not, but you have still committed a sin against the crown." He announced with a stern voice that settled everyone, "Because of the deeds you have commited you must repent. Thus I have come up with a compromise."

Cold eyes looked upon the little girl, for they had no remorse, "I will give you three tasks, each harder than the previous. To finish them is to achieve forgiveness, while failure will result in the damnation of your name."

"C-can I ask what they will be?"

The Old Man seemed to think to himself for the moments, his eyes slowly moving towards his right hand, "Decades ago I launched an attack upon Siltvelt with nothing but my family's sword. It is the only relic I had to remember them by. However, I was forced to fight in the swamps and lost it to the toxic sludge. Retrieve it for me, and I will give you the second task."

"I-is that all?" Maple timidly asked, her heart still pounding like a hammer from what happened earlier.

"Yes, now leave my Court." He ruled with a wave of his hand, "The sooner you retrieve my weapon the faster you shall receive my forgiveness."

"A-alright!" And with that the little Shield Hero fled from the room, her little form easily going through the large doors that dwarfed her size.

The people that remained in the Castle felt a sour feeling in their hearts. Some even spoke in whispers if a little girl of fifteen years would have been able to commit such an supposed attorcity. Yes, the belief in the Crown was wavering somewhat.

For Pope Biscas Y. Balmus, heretical Anti-Pope of the Three Heroes Church, well he simply shook his head. His greatest foe may have escaped his grasp, but was now forced on a death mission. True, her death was not today, however, her doom was to come!

The Swamp of Oragauhst where the Battle of the Turning took place was surely lethal enough. So much he was sure the Gods would be smiling upon his work done.

* * *

There were not many people running around the streets this time of day, which was quite unusual. Normally people would be going about trying to get themselves lunch and enjoying a small pint of drink. Today however was different, the city was gripped by a scandal.

"Just as our Gods have declared, the Shield has committed a grand sin that only the most debatorous would commit! She had not only defiled the Princess and heir to the Crown but caused such a wicked wound that she might never be the same!"

These were the words of one of many preachers in the streets, his voice carrying across the crowds of people.

"Those of the Court seemed to have grown soft, influenced by her devilish ways! People of Melromarc do not be swayed by her inhuman charms! Such must be expected when talking of the embodiment of Sin!"

The words of another, who unlike the others kept the broadcast going for some time. Yes, this man decided to instead of cutting the broadcast decided to preach of the sinful court and their malruling. Those who couldn't stand it had already left.

As for the Shield, she shakily walked away from the preacher's crowd. The Court was of course a place that now terrified her, but to hear the same geers and cries on the streets before her!

I-I wish Sally was here!

It was now she realised how far away from home she was. Her friend was not here, and her Mother would never be there to welcome her home. Actually, she didn't even have a home now!

She moved away from the main road, taking the allies and back water districts, but she could not flee the city. At every gate a preacher stood with a crowd of entranced merchants listening to their message. Some of the merchants were listening since the guards were not allowing people to leave, but others began to think the priests were making sense.

As it was a trial by fire, Maple's instincts were making her think to stay as far away from those people as she possibly could.

From the fear and paranoia she ultimately crashed in one of the alley next to a wall. Tears that could not be held back any longer were flowing freely onto the ground below. Everyone here wanted her dead, and it was all upon the words of Myne.

Why did you do that Myne!? I thought we were friends!

The sounds of clanking metal rang in her ear, causing the girl to rapidly look up.

"Hey, I've got a question for you? Did you actually do those things them priest said earlier?"

Standing there was the stocky look of a powerfully built man, soot covering his face in a kind of funny manner.

"Did I do something wrong?" Maple simply asked the man.

"No," He simply shook his head, "Some people are just rotten to the core I guess. You wanna sit somewhere?"

"I… I don't really know." Maple answered the man simply.

"Ah damn it, I guess this fucking looks bad." The man simply face palmed which caused Maple to tilt her head a little. For the next moment though he smiled, "Don't you remember you bought some armor off of me? It's not done yet, but I'm pretty sure it's the right of the customer to see it built to your exact liking."

"B-but I only paid you 500 silver!"

"So what, you're a mother fucking hero. I should be doing this for free ya know." The man gave a golly laugh while rubbing the girl's head, "It's fine to be cautious of strangers, but if you shut everyone out you won't make any friends right?"

Said words rang in her ears for the moment, reverberating for the moment.

I… would never make friends. B-but I want friends. Friends just like Sally who will stand up for me!

A small smile crept on her face, one that never once had the same appeared on the face of a man that was in a similar place at a different time. Maybe it was their ages, maybe it was gender, or maybe the boy never actually heard the same words spoken to him once before.

Actually, they were the same words. He just wasn't the kind of person to listen at the time.

"I think I, uh, understand. L-let's go!"

But Maple did.

"Alright, now remember how the armor had a lot of cover on the arms, I was thinking since you had a Shield maybe as should instead buffer your helmet and chest."

"B-but I need to have an open helmet!"

"You were so adamant about that though, is it that wanting to bite them things again?"

"It is, have you never tasted them. Monsters are so tasty!"

"I just prefered rations."

And with that they headed off to his shop.

**I am both sorry and not.**


	6. Ch 6 Rabbits and Shopping

By the time the sun casted it light over the forest that bordered Castle Town, it was almost lunchtime. However, it was not quite time for lunch, brunch maybe, but not lunch. This time of day of course enticed people with the smells of baked bread from the bakeries and cooked meats from the grillers, but would leave them waiting for them to open. Such was the situation in Castle Town, as people did not have kitchens in their homes. Ovens and proper fireplaces were too costly for a person to have one just to make a , they would eat out every meal, except for breakfast which was usually just a loaf of bread.

Such was the standard practice in Melromarc.

Inside of the forest, there was one that was past the point of full. So full in fact that Dragons would learn to envy such a state of depravity. However, to the person who experienced it, she was forced to lament as she finished up the meal.

_Erhard was going to take me out for lunch! But I can't leave all the monster carcasses out in the open!_

Maple slowly chewed on her latest balloon victim, the [Pink Balloons] who tasted like a school eraser. Since she was waiting for the armor to be finished she decided to use the morning to level up from the forest. While her growth rate had slowed dramatically since her fight against the Horned Rabbit Queen, she was still able to get a few levels.

With a flick of her hand the menu and status came up:

-{Maple: Hero of the Shield}-

Lv. 13

HP: 1215/1215

SP: 607/303

Mana: 10

-{Attributes}-

Str: 4

Agi: 1

Vit: 303

Dex: 1

Mgk: 10

Maple was by all means happy with her stats at the moment. She of course had placed all her stats into increasing Vit, but for some reason her other skills were increasing too. It seemed that her various Shields were doing the deed, but with Total Defense the increases were negligible at best.

If you account for the the buffs that being the shield hero gave, her Vit stat is essentially double the current number, meaning it is really 510. She could essentially Shield Bash 25 times and not feel any fatigue. The poor monsters in the castle's forest are literally being one shot.

"Fufufu, I'm getting powerful!" She laughed before sighing.

The fatigue from waking up early was starting to get to Maple as she gave a mighty stretch and yawn. Maple figured it was probably a good time to start making her way back to the black smith. It was nice for the man to let her stay at his house for a while until he finished the armor. He seemed at first a little concerned about her current build and how she was dividing her stats. He did seem to change his mind the day before when she forgot to remove all the balloons before coming into the shop. She grew fond remembering how they went around popping every balloon off her armor.

"Well, it's time to head back!" She cheered while raising the Shield into the sky, "Upon the rights I have usurped, [Dominion of the Horned Rabbit Queen]!"

Within a matter of seconds a small herd of Horned Rabbits surrounded the hero. They all as one bowed their heads, awaiting their first command.

"Thanks for coming everyone!" She cheered as the little girl dropped herself upon the small herd, "Now take me back home!"

Receiving their orders from the Sovereign, they moved as one towards the village. It was a really handy skill, as not only did it allow the summoning of the Horned Rabbits but all orders were followed with the given intent. Similar skills can appear in the Monarch of other species. Even King Aultcray possesses the skill, though it only affects those who want to be affected.

"WEEEEEEE!" She cried as the Rabbits went at an insane speed towards the town walls. The Rabbits knew their way around the forest which resulted in no loss in speed from dodging trees and rocks.

Some of the villages that were in the forest during this week would tell others of a bigger monster that was the new protector of the forest. A blob of solid, yet liquid that moved so quickly you only see a blur of black and white. Some said it had a hundred red eyes to allow it to see all in its territory.

However, such tales were an annoyance to the guards as on the Wall, as they were in a minor and annoyed stir. Their weapons were brought to the ready as they saw movement in the small clearing between the forest and the walls. There had only been a few times that the full garrison was called into time,however, it was formality at this point.

"I see the horde coming from the South!" called out one of the men as he quickly got out his telescope.

"And, it is the damn Shield!" Called out Captain Hardacc as he looked towards the massive brushing of trees. His mustache twinged a little from the kicked up dust.

"Uh, confirm sir. What do you want us to do?"

For the last few days the Captain had to deal with these shenanigans, and he honestly hated it. It was always the same time every day that she would come running with a horde of man-eating rabbits. The first time had to be the worst, as it looked to be almost every damn Rabbit within twenty miles joined.

He could feel his hatred to the situation rise, "Just like yesterday, we are not allowed to do nothing. The King's word was that she was not to be harmed by us, _fucking bastard._"

"Are you dissatisfied with the command Captain?" The guard with the spyglass asked offhandedly.

"Fuck yeah I am. He almost locked me up just for capturing some rogue Demi-Humans. What's the problem with that?"

"Maybe because they were his direct subjects?"

"Pff, they are Demi-Humans. Bastards deserve to be chain- fuck!"

Before he could finish the sun was blotted out from their view. Just as before, the Horned Rabbits all jumped over the wall, many of them almost hitting the guards stationed on the wall. For the captain, a portion of them used him as a jumping board!

"WooHoo!" cried the one Hardacc hated more than anyone in this awful world.

"Fucking Shield!"

That cry went to deaf ears as Maple flew to the other side of the wall. Her little mob of rabbits kept moving, hopping from building to building in a small mob of white. That first day, looked upon the horde with terror, now they were more worned out of the situation, annoyed that it keeps happening, marveled of the powers that the Heroes can wield.

The colony of white rabbits finally arrived at their destination, standing at attention in front of the blacksmith shop. Maple turned back over and shined her minions a smile, "Thank you! I will be sure to bring carrots next time!"

With the dismissal by their liege the rabbits soon hopped in all direction, looking like a flurry of cloud running along the ground.

Maple watched until the last one left her site before turning towards the door, a small chipper in her step. With a small push she opened the door, a small bell ringing as she entered the shop.

"Finished the morning grind?" Erhard called out as Maple slowly approached the counter.

"Yup!" After a few clicks on the user display a small pile of goods were dumped onto the table between them.

"The magic of the Heroes is amazing," Was about all Erhard could admit as he quickly stuffed the series of pelts and goods into their respective packages.

They had found out about this function on the first day Maple had gone on her farming trip after the ordeal. Somehow, she was now able to collect more loot than just the bones that she was getting earlier. Hell, she could even put any item into this space. The only limit seemed to not be by weight but the total number of items.

After sorting out the new items and wrapping up his current project, Erhard turned to Maple, "Alright, ready to go get some lunch?"

"I would love that!"

As Erhard flipped the sign to close and both started to make their way towards an outside eatery, the smith couldn't help but smile as he saw her happiness. He knew things could have been worse off, and this week was good for Maple.

"So do you want a Greko or Bread on a Stick?" Erhard asked as they joined a small line for the meals.

"Uh, I guess I'll take the bread. Had a little too much to eat earlier."

"You still eatin' them Monsters?"

"Yup."

"Maple, Maple," Erhard shook his head hearing her little explanation, "You should not be eating Monsters so readily. Most of them need to be treated to even be eaten properly."

"But they are so tasty!" She pouted in response.

"..."Erhard could not handle the Shield's strongest weapon, "Fine, just don't make it well known."

"I'll try!" in an instant Maple went from frown to a smile that seemed to outshine the sun itself.

After a bit both got their lunch: bread on a stick for Maple and a Greko for Erhard. The Greko was a dish quite similar to a Gyro; mainly made up of a mix of meats from several beasts, greens, and a white sauce served in a pita like bun. The hero who introduced the recipe was feeling homesick and was wanting some food from his homeland. However, he never found any lamb. Or tomatoes. Or cucumber. Hell, they did not even have lettuce!

As for the bread on a stick, it was just donut holes on a stick with a catchier name.

It did not take long for them to finish their meals. Of course Maple basically swallowed hers whole, while Erhard simply ate fast and precise. It was simply a mainstay from his previous occupation in the military and never kicked the habit.

The streets were now becoming more active with people going for their own lunches. As for our two people, well Erhard had an idea.

"So, how about we get you some supplies? You gonna be leaving soon." He answered with a small smile.

"Yeah… but I don't want to have to go." Maple complained while the two started walking, "I'm really going to miss going out for lunch with you and the cute rabbits in the forest after I leave."

"Honestly, I couldn't say why." The man answered while scratching his head, "You are a Hero and the King is only the husband of our Queen. Hell, you could probably just leave to Shieldfreeden or Siltvelt and no one would be able to do anything."

"Is that so…" Maple fell silent as she thought about things. Honestly she was not the kind of person to just run away. Still the thought felt tempting.

"Well, think about it like this." The man commented with a smile, "Being an adventurer without aim kind of sucks, so with these you can explore the kingdom and probably meet people. If you do enough things, the people will probably fall in love with you."

"Is that so, then I guess I will do it!" Maple cheered as they went into a small store. The front of it hangs a pair of scales that signified being a general trader.

The old man inside the place simply smiled towards the group who came inside, "Welcome to Adventring Trinkets and Binkets, I'm Binket. Is there anything you two be- Erhard?"

"Hey there Binket, been a while." The smith said with a slight wave while getting up to the counter.

"Been a while? Pff, been almost a decade."

"Well I found something a little more safe, being an old man you probably know the feeling."

"I do, I do," The old man did a small motion with his biceps, "I'm not nearly as strong as I was. Still, last time I heard you were running a shop near the edge of town. Brought your one here to prepare her on an adventure?"

"W-whoa, she's not my daughter." The smith almost had a heart attack as he heard that.

"Well what else would she be," The man gave a small laugh while turning to Maple, "What do you say girl? This guy your papa?"

"Hmm, maybe Uncle." She answered before shaking her head rapidly, "But he's not a relative! Erhard has just been taking care of me!"

"Oh? Well still that leaves a question," The old man looked to Erhard with a stern gaze one would give a delinquent, "Why is she here? The adventuring life isn't kind to women, let alone young men."

Erhard simply shook his head, "You probably know it already, but it's unavoidable for her."

Old Man Binket could only shake his head, "So the rumors are true, you know me selling stuff to her will make me blacklist by the ecclesiarch right? One wrong move and I'll have a fire lit under my feet."

"And I will be on the same pyre."

The two men stared at one another, and Maple noticed a coldness seep into the room. She did not hesitate to open her mouth, as she was not going to always rely on Erhard.

"Uh, Mr. Binket!" She started, instantly drawing both eyes to her, "Can you please help me. I don't know much and I've only been doing the monsters around the area. I uh, want help in my coming task, please."

Binket took another look over the girl, his eyes appraising her for anything. What he saw before him was not the monster the clergy advertised but instead a little girl asking him to sell her stuff.

"You know, I'll probably die soon anyways." The man laughed a little to himself before getting out a small small notepad, "I guess you want an adventurer's kit, but anything else you thinking?"

And like that the two began working. Maple was quite oblivious to what was happening, but if she did she would probably feel really bad. He was mostly selling her at prices that were well below retail value, at a price point that even heroes with discounts would gawk at.

In the end, it boiled down that these people wanted to help her. With great risk comes greater allegiance and fellowship. It was not just these men but those who worked with Maple in the past few weeks. The tanner who accepted her rabbit pelts tended to ignore the large bite marks that were left on them and bought them at premium. The cooks would add a little extra to her portions.

These were people who would not sell to her to the faithful. They were some who would rip her off, for their fear of the Crown and Church simply outweighed helping the little girl. Erhard knew that, and so he chose a friend who sold him products for years on end. With the cuteness of Maple, he was sure they would get a willing seller.

"I can get all this to your place by morning, but…" He turned to the girl, "Maple, wasn't it, where are you going anyways?"

"Uh, the uh, Swamp of Oragauhst I think. Did I say it right?" She said almost confusingly.

"No, you said it right." he gave a short laugh while checking out some logs, "You know I know a guy whose heading that way. You can probably just hitch a ride with him."

"Really, I mean you are still sticking your neck out for us." Erhard said with a small sweat coming down his cheek.

"I'm just doing my part." He made a quick motion with his hand, "Now that will get her over there, but definitely isn't going to get her back. You should probably buy her a beast since she'll be carrying a bunch of stuff back for sure!"

Erhard rubbed his neck at the idea, "I guess so, but who knows whose selling them now."

"Hmph, it's not my place to say what those bastards do. Anyway, I'll tell him to meet you guys at the gate tomorrow with your supplies!" The Old Man laughed as the two exited the building.

With that the two of them traveled down the street, questions were taking shape in her mind. Though, with the way Erhard seemed to have been worrying she decided to hold back on the question.

Erhard led both of them through the alleys walking with the confidence of a local. After taking a sharp turn Maple could see a gathering of tents poked through the cluster of buildings with signage stating it was the circus.

"Uh, where are we going?" Maple curiosity grew as the tents got closer.

"To get you a Beast to hopefully ride and serve you." He quickly replied as he continued to look forward, "Whatever you do, do not go wander off with any of the men. If I had a choice I would take you to another merchant, but most births and layings happen in the spring."

"Alright?"

With that the two finally arrived at the front of the tent. A rather large man was standing upfront with a pair of hounds to his side. He didn't make a move though as Erhard opened the front of the tent, soon bringing them into the main place of the tent.

In an instant Maple quickly look around and was reminded of some kind of pet store. That is, if pet stores were portable, no lights, and stink to the high heavens. All about her animals and monsters stood tall looking out at her. Even a few Horned Rabbits were there, standing ready to receive orders from her. What caught her eye, though, was the large pile of eggs sitting at the center of the room.

"Oh, enjoying the view of my collection. It is quite complete I assure you that."

Maple looked up to see a rather pugy looking man. He looked quite the part of a ringleader with a tall top hat and ruffled looking suit. The way he looked at her and smiled though…

"We are here simply to buy a beast for Maple. Nothing else Beloukas."

"Hehe, let us see about that." The little man who was about as tall as Maple simply laughed to himself, "I do have a few beasts for you all to look at, if that interests you."

Erhard stared at the little man for the moment, "Alright, if just to show her what she can get."

"Excellent excellent you will not regret it!" The little man quickly waddled away with his hands pointing at different animals that were in the cages.

What was in the tent was quite surprising for Maple. Each Beast was like a prehistoric dinosaur or a massive version of something from earth. Ranging from large fluffy birds to low level lizards twice the size of a komodo dragon.

Something, though, caught her eye again, and she almost jumped out of her shoes, "Is that a Turtle!?"

"Oh, so you know the old name of the Rockjob. Yes a magnificent beast whose shell is as hard as stone and bite stronger than a smith's pliers." The little man grew a devilish smile, "Would you want such a beast?"

"It reminds me so much of Syrup!" She couldn't contain the amount of excitement she had as she tried to reach into the pen.

Before she could touch the beast however Erhard quickly grabbed her hand and brought it back, "Whoa there, be a little bit careful about these things. They aren't Kittles or Drogs, but monsters far stronger than what you've seen in the Forest."

"Oh…. sorry."

The older man could only sigh, "Just be a little cautious, that's all."

Seeing the two finish up their moment the porky man quickly caught back up to speed, "Well if you are against the little one from getting an adult, how about I get her a youngster instead."

"No, you're not pulling that on me." Erhard said with a sigh, "We need an Egg, nothing else."

"Monster Egg!?" Maple basically cheered as she heard the words coming from Erhard's mouth, "You can get them here!?"

"Well it is the main selling item I have." The porkish man shook his head while laughing, "You know our business well, my good sir. Why is that?"

"I simply learned to deal with traders like you a long time ago." Erhard announced while standing upright, dwarfing both Maple and the Monster Trader, "Now are we going to get a Rockjob egg or not?"

"Hmph, you're no fun. This way." With a motion of his hand they were guided to a small rack with hundreds of eggs on them. The Monster Trader quickly opened up a tray and removed a single egg from it, "This one will be about 50 silver."

"And the Slave Sealing?"

"Hehe, you are sharp." The prokish man simply shook his head, "Another 10, which means you are up to 60 Silver Pieces in price."

Maple thought for a moment, quickly counting the coin in her head. It wouldn't be ideal, but if it means she gets a mount and a friend she should be fine.

However before she could answer, a hand rested on her shoulder, "Don't worry about paying it, think of it as a present."

"Huh? Are you sure?" Was about all Maple could respond.

"Think of it as a sending away gift. You already spent most of your money on other things like supplies and transport."

"... Alright." She could only give a slight pout at the man's genuine care for her.

"So, if you would come this way we will get the ritual done!"

After a few more minutes they left the tent. Of course there was the difficulty of trying to draw blood from Maple since her skin was so durable, but somehow they managed it. After the event, Maple quickly gave some of the leftover materials to her shield and got herself a new type!

**[Slave Master Shield]**

And it was not ominous at all!

Soon enough they made their way back to the shop, where the final preparations for Maple's journey were completed.

-{Maple's Complete Stats}-

Hero of the Shield

Lv. 13

HP: 1215/1215

SP: 606/303

Mana: 20/20

-{Attributes}-

Str: 4

Agi: 1

Vit: 303

Dex: 1

Mgk: 10

-{Skills}-

_Bite: High

_Poison Resistance: High

_Disease Resistance: Medium

_One Who Eats the Living: With the exception of those who are mindless, monsters under the user's level are affected by the [Fear] status effect.

_Dominion of the Horned Rabbit Queen: The User calls upon the Horned Rabbits of the area, demanding them to pay homage and carry out their in bred duty of supremacy.

_Blessings of the Shield: Increases all Raw Vitality Input by 25%, Increase Experience Gain, Lower Requirements for Skills, Experience Increase for Party Members.

_Bottomless Stomach: User's stomach can never experience being too full. All food that is eaten after this point is transformed into SP. This can go up to double SP in extra supply

_Total Defence: All Vit is doubled when calculated. Increasing Str, Agi, and Dex. Requied 3 times the points of other stats.

-{Abilities}-

_Meditation: Regen 1% of HP and SP every Second. User is unable to complete actions while this is occuring.

_Devour: User's weapon animates to attack a foe. The User's Vit is used when calculating damage for attack.

_Provacation: Choose a target, they are now forced to attack the User. Resisting the taunt causes mental damage.

_Shield Bash: User hits an enemy with their Shield, dealing 10% of their Vit as damage and forcing the target to do a Str test.

~~Omake made by editor~~

All his life Usse was told by his parents and the other elders that one day the round one will come to bring a new dynasty after the Queen. Usse could not believe that since the Queen was the greatest and strongest being that he has even known. No one has ever stopped the Queen, not even the clangers.

That all changed when the small clanger came.

The clanger was destroying the stray forces and the Queen was forced awake to combat the clanger. Ussee watched as the small clanger went and even started to EAT her Highness and eventually kill her. The round thing even took the body!

The others in the forest that saw the exchange started to tell the others. The prophecy had been foretold, the clanger with the round arm had come and she is to be honored as the new Dynasty.

All hail the Round One.


	7. Ch 7: The Traveling Merchant

Light slowly leaked through the window onto the wooden counter and walls. Instead of reflecting, the light was absorbed by the wood items, being of the Orlane variety. It was known for the dark brown to look almost supernaturally clean. And it surely was!

It would have been eight cycles ago that the tree was created by a great hero, this one being of the spear. Between the dozens of homes and furnishings he had, the man felt like a color was missing on the spectrum of available trees. So using the genetic manipulation of his weapon the man was easily able to transform a simple Oak tree into Orlane.

Now it populated the realm as the premier tree to build establishments out of, being of superior quality than a majority of trees in the area.

The sounds of metal clicking on what some mistaken as metal rings soon rang, the chain mail being placed around Maple's waist with her steady hands. She soon raised a large tunic-looking set of chains, slipping the assembly over her head to settle on her surprisingly wide shoulders.

The Shield Hero took a deep breath, she could feel how truly heavy each item on her really was, and it was no joke. But, if she wanted to have the maximum defense she could possibly assemble, then she would endure it.

She took a few steps forward and slipped her feet in the new metal boots. With two flicks of her hand the armor made a sharp, snapping sound. All at once, the armor conformed to each other. With a few more flicks, the leg protections were in place.

Technological advancement was something that varied greatly within the realms of this world. Due to the aspects of levels, a simple man could easily outperform the industrial output of entire factories if he focused his life to the craft. It would also be of higher quality than anything found in the mass production sector.

So when certain people found these skills and tricks, practices were invented and abused. Such was the case with Maple's heavy plate armor quick snap. Instead of having to mess with straps and complicated bracers, the armor snapped together with magic similar to magnets. With a few other mechanisms, it would be impossible to take off without the true intent of the user.

Such a making, however, was only wishful thinking of professional soldiers to own since it was very expensive to commission. The hands of a master smith were needed to craft this set in particular.

Maple put the last parts of her armor ( a solid magic-steel torso) onto her body. She raised her gauntlets, placing the spiked set of armor onto her body. With a flick of her hand and a thought, a piece of black metal slid in front of her face from the torso piece to protect her mouth.

Maple moved herself forward in front of the mirror. The sight of a slim black knight stood looking back at her. He stood there menacingly with golden highlights all about the body. Spikes adorned it, all of them pointed at angles meant to latch onto and grapple prey.

_I look so cool!_

With a small burst of speed (really it was not faster than a sloth) Maple pierced the curtains and stood trumphly in front of the maker of the gear. Head held high and a welt of pride crept into her body as the smith studied over how the armor melded with the form.

"So, does it look good on me!?" She announced with a twirl.

"It does, luckily enough." He announced while walking over. Soon he produced a small hammer to his hand and smack her right on the shoulder!

"Whoa!" Maple announced as she slowly backed up from the strike. While she was not expecting the hit, she did not receive any damage from the attack. The golden trimmed gave off an eerie glow

"Alright, it seems the bludgeoning resistance works," He put the hammer away and examined her form once more, "Do you feel its weight yet?"

"It did at first, but now it's like I'm only wearing a shirt and pants!"

"Then it's fitting you correctly." He announced with a grin, "Alright, and you're not boiling in there?"

The armored girl shook her head, "It's like I'm living in an air conditioning chamber!"

"Alright, guess the runes and metal have integrated correctly." He took one more look over the armor and gave a smile while resting his weapon over the shoulder, "Damn I put too many hours into that thing."

"Thank you for this, and everything else you've helped me with!" Maple cheered while giving the man a massive bow.

"Hey, you paid me so I did my job. Count the rest as customer service."

"This is worth much more than that. Not even an Uncle would give their niece this nice of a set!"

"An Uncle? Isn't that taking it a little too far?"

"Nope, you are Uncle Erhard!"

The man opened his mouth to rebuttal, but the smile on her face was quite an halted the words from forming. While it was obvious she was just pulling his leg, it was something he would admit was quite enduring.

"Alright alright, well we gotta get you going now." He said while lifting a small cage and setting it into her hands.

"Got it!"

And with that the two left the shop as the sun just barely broke the horizon, the rays of light weaving between the many buildings. The nice day would eventually become a grey and dreary day for the people of the town. It was as if the sky itself was saying goodbye to our small hero.

However, that was for later in the day.

As the two passed through the gates, as a pair of guards moved from their position. They gave a curt nod to the smith and Hero before heading their way back to the barracks to whatever they were doing. Maple gave a quick double back to see them heading into a different building.

"Is something the matter?" Erhard asked the little girl.

"Something weird just happened," She admitted.

"Indeed, nothing to worry about as there is your ride."

Upon exiting the gates there was a small carriage slowly being loaded up with supplies. The first thing that caught Maple noticed was the large bird standing at the front, its head held high into the wind and looked to be enjoying itself. This was followed by a sight Maple has not seen yet in this world.

One of the two people lifting the boxes had a small bright red tail steadying itself in the air before the person lifted the box. When she lifted her head up, Maple could easily see a small pair of red raccoon ears popping through her hair!

_So cute!_

"Hmm?" The one who received all of Maple's attention turned around to see our Shield's staring, "Oh, Nao, I think our passenger has arrived!"

The sound of a box being dropped rang through the air as a black haired man looked towards Maple. He looked kind of Japanese, but it was pretty clear he had some european blood running through his veins. Something akin to a large glove covered his whole right arm, but that was overshadowed by a very unsettling glare.

"So you are the ones who Binket sent over?" He asked dryly before making his way towards them, "So which one is it?"

"Th-that would be me!" Maple quickly moved forward and gave the man a bow, "Uh, so you are the person who Binket wanted us to meet?"

The said man gave pause, his eye scanning over the pair, "I am, but I'm not sure I should be transporting you. Aren't you a little young to be traveling alone?"

"I might be," Maple had to admit to herself, "But I need to do this atleast! If I don't I will never clear my name!"

"Clear your name?" Nao looked over her for one more moment before shaking his head once more, "Hey Raphtalia, her stuff from the old man should be in the crate near the back. Make some room next to it for her to sit."

"Got it!" The Raccoon called out with a smile, soon moving about crates that should have been too large for her to carry.

As the two merchants got to work Maple felt a small pat on her back, "Be careful out there, ya hear."

"Nn, I will!" She responded to the smith before cheerily making her way towards the cart with the egg in hand.

With a little bit of work the three were able to get the rest of the crates loaded, Maple quickly placing herself in the empty spot the racoon lady cleared for her. It was kind of funny looking at the cart from far away, since she appeared to just be a black shape of something hanging out on the back of a cart.

"Come Filo, let's get moving." Called out the black haired man to his beast.

"Kya!" It said as slowly the entire freight started to move. It started at a slow steady pace, but soon it increased to something more of a blissful trot as the creature brought itself up to full speed.

Maple was soon relegated to watching the scenery go by her. There were a great many homes they passed by, each with their own little style. There also pass a few farms with people working the fields.

Those in the fields carried large scythes, each of which sliced the large amount of grain with others making large golden stacks of the stalks. She also saw a good amount of people digging their shovels into the ground, easily bringing up what she could guess was a variation of potatoes from the round shape.

However farmhands and houses were not the only thing she noticed. There was on some occasion a large wall seemingly appear out in the middle of a field. Age and weathering was pretty evident on these constructs. However they looked to be tended by people, large vines growing upward in a controlled manner with some strange things growing along it.

Maple thought to herself for a moment, the idea of plants growing on poles not something she had seen before. Then again, wasn't there plants in other places in the world that did grow on poles ?

Soon enough the morning sun had crawled its way through the sky and became the afternoon. The landscape did not hold Maple attention, so she started tinkering with her menu. She found a good amount of things, like the party system where she was able to move her egg to join her party. There were a great many things as well, even a Guild system, though, there was none listed at the moment. She would need to fix that!

Before she knew it, however, the day had slipped towards night, the disc of light slowly hiding itself behind the mountain range.

"Hold it Filo!" called out Nao as he pulled on the reins, "We need to stop, we are not going to be able to see the road soon."

"Ku?!" Maple looked over to see the bird give something akin to a pout.

"Look, we all need to eat and we also have a passenger." He replied before hopping off the carriage and unhitching the hoisters that held the bird to the wagon, "Head out and eat what you can."

"Kya!" It cried before quickly dashing right into the forest proper, the sounds of entire trees being snapped rang in Maple's ear.

However its owner could only shake his head, "Damn, she's just a walking disaster."

"Don't be too hard on her, Nao. She is a Firoia through and through." Raphtilia said while cracking open a crate.

"You heard the rumors too, about that group of them that went feral. If that's true, it would be bad for business."

"I guess it would." The woman said before shining a smile towards Maple, "Don't be afraid, you can come on out and share with us."

"Are you sure?" Maple said while peering over the carriage.

A small click came from Nao as he gathered the ingredients together and started to mix something in the pot, "Just come on. I'd feel bad if my passenger died of starvation because we didn't stop."

Maple thought about it for a second, then got herself off the edge of the wagon with a modest thump. She took in a breath while moving forward, "I am sorry to intrude then."

Seats were taken, and one of the first things she noticed was the smell of whatever Nao was cooking. It was a nice mix between the smell of meat and the spices, a stew worth every ounce of broth.

_Oops, I'm drooling!_

A small laugh came from Raphtalia as Maple wiped up her mouth, "I am sorry we forgot to feed you during the day. You see we normally just eat during the morning and evening to get the most distance."

"Oh it's fine," Maple said while flinging her hands, "Though I don't know why I wasn't hungry. Maybe I was just enjoying the sights too much."

"You enjoy the sights that much?" Nao called out from the pot.

"I did! Everything was so interesting!"

"..." The man seemed to stare into the stew for a moment, "I guess it would be."

"Oh come on Nao," Raphtilia called out with a smile, "Aren't we traveling about because you like seeing new sights?"

"It's because I don't really have a place to stay." The man said back before lifting a small bit of broth in front of himself, "But seeing new sights is a bonus."

"Nao, Nao…" The Raccoon simply shook her head before turning towards Maple, "So, why do you need to head over to the Swamp of Oragauhst? It's a bit more dangerous for even seasoned adventurers."

"Well, I, uh," Maple tried to think of something to say, since she was trying her best to be wary and all.

"To clear her name." Nao called out as he gave both Maple and Raphtilia a bowl of stew, "I can guess what happened, but you don't need to tell us anything."

"Really, but it feels rude!"

"Sometimes you need to keep things like that hidden. Hero of the Shield."

"Kuh!" Maple almost fell out of her seat when he said that, "H-how did you know!?"

" Binket was saying you were special." He gave a small wave before tossing her a fork, "You won't be protected by that Smith while you're out in the wilds. Best to keep yourself hidden so that no one thinks to assassinate you."

"A-assassinate!" Maple felt a small shiver crawl up her spine, this one was much more real. The idea of being killed, once a faint musing by Suzie, has gotten quite real.

"Mmhm, you're probably being hunted right now by the crown and possibly the Three Heroes Church. Since Melromarc has the best Assassins, I would hire them to kill you."

Before Maple could feel her heart drop any further a voice of reason spoke up, "Come on Nao, you're just scaring her senselessly."

"So, it's the truth!"

"No it's not, how about when you found me?"

"Tsk." He was silenced with that, soon relegated himself to the stew once more.

"Kukuku." Raphtilia laughed to herself as the group soon joined the merchant in their meals.

Ah, the taste of such a stew was something that Maple could not describe in honesty. It was comparable to great works of art and wonder, almost addicting in how good it was. Even if it reminded her of the magnificent taste of the Horned Rabbit Queen, somehow, this meat was even better.

Maybe she would need to find another monster soon.

All good things, though, must come to an end, and while Maple was really tempted to eat her plate the girl simply placed it into the empty pot to be cleaned up later. She could not help but yawn with a massive stretch.

"Alright, it's time for us to sleep." Nao said while picking up the pot, "I will take first watch, Raph if you can take second. And Maple, can I rely on you to take third?"

"I can!" The memories of keeping watch in New World Online easily coming back to her, "And nothing will get passed me!"

With that Maple went back to the wagon, making herself a nice place to lay down. Looking in her small crate of supplies, she did find a sleeping bag that was plenty big enough for her to sleep in. However, she also remembered what Erhard said.

_It's for my safety. _

And with that the little girl opened the menus and set a timer to wake her up in time. She needed to work on not being so asleep, since it was one of the things that nailed her earlier.

Yeah, she can't be so defenseless all the time.

**Skill Unlocked [Alert]**

Without even noticing the new skill she gave in to the throws of the sandman; her armor acting as protection from the wind and cold of Fall.

The night's clouds help block the full moon they were having tonight, which was as good as the merchant could hope. Yeah, his life was not really filled with flowers and sunshine, and seemed to match the sky tonight.

Wary eyes searched the horizon, the fear of assassination giving him a near untempered paranoia. If he steadied his breathing enough, he could hear the countless beating of feet that Filo gave as she trampled whatever indiginous wildlife was in the area.

Yeah, he never really did get that bird.

She would return at some time over the night though, that much he knew. Such beasts were capable of so much work with only a few hours of sleep, so she spent all the time eating. She might be returning when he is still at watch or when Raphtalia takes over. He would not know since again he does not understand those birds.

Yeah, it's one of those things he would never understand.

Just like the Gauntlet that rested on his hand, his bastard brother, or his brother's bitch of a girlfriend.


	8. Ch 8: The Swamp of Oragauhst

**Good news, I finally got the category for BOFURI made! In celebration of that and the fact isolation is a pain, I give you the chapter one day early. I will say this now but the enemy of choice was from my Beta, who never read Rising of the Shield Hero. So blame her if you don't like it, but also thank her for getting the Category made. **

**Lets get on with this show already!**

Maple watched as the sun rose from the back of the carriage, early enough where even the flies were not moving about. She had to admit watching it come over the trees was nice. The golden rays shine, casting dark reds and oranges on the landscape. However, such a time means everyone would be waking up and making their way back on the road.

The roads were starting to get quite rough, Maple had to admit. What was once made up of stone and gravel were compressed dirt. She held the egg of her companion in her hands, not trusting the cage since she could not get a good grip on it.

No longer were there any farms, but instead a large forest encroach on the road. Yes Maple honestly did not like the look nor the feeling of the place, but at least nothing was coming out to fight the caravan.

"Alright, here." Nao announced as he tugged on the reins, "I'm not going any further. We've had pretty good luck not being attacked by monsters, but I'm not one to press it."

"It's alright!" Maple soon grabbed her bag and unloaded herself off the cart, "You have already done so much for me already!"

"Yeah, so that means you owe me."

"Of course!"

A small laugh and a shaking of the head came from Nao. As he did so Raphtalia called out, "I would be careful, I remember people telling me to not walk into the sludge."

Maple gave the Raccoon a nod and a shining smile, "I understand, I will be careful!"

"We're off then. You remember the last town we passed?" Nao said as he snapped the reins.

"Yup! See you later!" Maple called out as they soon passed her. Raphtalia waved out to her, as for some reason even the bird. Maple couldn't help but blink when she noticed that, but then again this was a fantasy world.

Taking in a breath Maple turned around, the fairly dark forest standing in front her. With a swift action she brought the bag down before her, opening up the top to look into the neatly arranged interior.

"Let me see, three days of rations, ten Health Potions, and a tent. Now if I did this.."

Since there was an opening right in the middle portion of the bag she took the monster egg within her hands and settled it into the pouch slowly. Just like a glove the egg settled within it, luckily it also meant no room for it to move.

With that done, she removed about half the potions from the bag and attached them onto her belt. One of Erhard's many niches in this armor was the special hoisters to hold any potion imaginable. Potions can save your life!

"Yata! Time to charge forward!" And with her personal warcry the Shield slowly moved her way into the forest. Not out of caution mind you, but because she couldn't go any faster.

Her ascent into the forest was marked with little noise. There were no birds chirping within the given region nor were there small animals crawling on the trees. It was as if they did not exist here at all.

The awful stench slowly reached her nose, though an irony of slight nostalgia was felt. Maple could feel the slight tinge crawling up her throat as toxins flooded the air about her. Such an odor would easily dissuade even the most ambitious of monsters from approaching, leaving only the plants who could not even smell it.

The girl took in a deep breath, "Ah, Good Morning!"

Yes, this girl was weird.

With the first deterrent not swaying her away, Maple walk-skipped deeper into the swamp. Her eyes only glanced over the structures that she could see. They were quite random, mostly stone pillars and the occasional wall seemingly erected out of nowhere. They were much smaller than those that the people out in the countryside used, and a few of them sometimes formed a corner.

It was when the once hard ground became mush that Maple started to become cautious. The slight tingle upon her feet signally the toxic feature of the Swamps. Soon a bar hovered in front of her vision, and Maple stopped to raise her Shield.

"I see you!" She laughed at the odd vine that covered a tree.

And like that the vine animated, quickly crawling across the tree with the true name popping up.

**Assassin Vine Minor Lv. 5**

Like a snake the thing had coiled itself on one of the tree's lower limbs, quickly launching itself towards Maple in an attempt to grapple her. For Maple however, she simply stuck out her hand towards the thing and caught it in mid air.

"Itadakimasu!" And with a feral bite she severed the creature's main body in two. She could feel a slight burn, her health dropping just slightly as she tore through the rest like a slab of jerky.

"So good!" She cried out with a smile upon her face, the taste of poison much more pronounced than ever before. You can say that she had acquired the taste when she was fighting for her life. Such taste forged in the Crucible of War tended to morph even the most basics of humanity.

Before Maple could finish the devouring of the twig, the ground beneath her feet began to move just slightly. Her senses standing on frail ends as she brought the shield about to receive the attack of another bio twig.

"[Devour]!" She shouted as the Shield animated, quickly moving its teeth out to consume the being of the monster with brutal efficiency.

**[Assassin Vine Shield Unlocked] Skill Unlocked: Genetic Manipulation Minor**

"Okay, so one just tried to attack me from behind, which means… HYA!" With a spin about her own feet Maple corrected herself to receive the next one, this time using the Shield as a bat to knock its targeting off just slightly. This was followed with a swift bite into the mid region, quickly killing the beast and giving Maple back a bit of SP.

"So you have me surrounded!" She laughed with a smile on her face. Almost every tree lit with health bars dictating the existence of the animating plants, "[Provocation]!"

With her cry a wave of red animated from her, covering exactly twenty feet around her body. All the Assassin Vines within her area could no longer linger about her, the demand to attack now too great. In a motion that only creatures similar to a hive mind can act, they attacked all at once.

Maple however just smiled her big smile, as when the group launched themselves at her the Shield Hero already knew what she was going to do, "[Bullrush!]"

In a split second her body went as fast as it ever could, dashing a quick fifteen feet across the forest floor. Her shield slammed into a series of Vines, each of them being skewered by her Shield.

Now with the chance opened she turned about, the large group of Vines all slamming into one another. Piled in a group, Maple simply turned about and pointed the business end of her Shield towards them, "[Bullrush]!"

If these things actually had guts, the entire forest floor would have been covered in them. Instead her simple act sent bodies flying across the floor, leaving her with a Shield covered in bits. The Shield automatically started to absorb the material. Maple gripped the twigs to yank back, but it proved to be stronger.

"Please Mr. Shield, I want to eat!"

**[Poisoner's Shield: Unlocked] Ability: [Manufacturer Poison]**

She could only sigh as the weapon in her hands seemed to think the trade off fair. It saddened Maple as she reached down and acquired a corpse of her one foe, eating it up like one would a slightly too long noodle.

"Alright, anyone else there?" She called out to the open forest. Nothing responded for the moment, so she once more moved forward towards the center.

The stench that would have killed a majority of Animals and Monsters was becoming a slight annoyance to Maple. Of course she was used to the toxic burns and damning fumes, it was just getting a little stuffy now. Not only that, but her feet were now submerged in a few inches of water.

"Lali dah, da di dah!" She hummed as another Assassin Vine tried to spring an attack. It was quickly taken care of through a [Shield Bash] and [Bite]. The Shield Hero grew a small frown at how they were taking just a tad bit more time to kill as she approached the center.

**[Level Up]! [Maple is now Level 15]**

She gave a quick swallow of the branchlike material to give a cry into the air, "Yata! I leveled up! Oh, what's this?"

With a few swipes of her hand Maple was able to see the stats of the egg in her bag. There of course were not very many stats, but what was the stats were interesting:

**Rockjob Egg**

**Lv. 3**

**Hp: 25/30**

**Vit: 15**

**Poison Resistance: Low**

"So he's leveling up? So cool!" She felt like hugging the item, but common sense told her to keep the egg in the safe location, "So do I just level it up until it hatches?"

She waited for the moment, as if expecting someone to give her the answer. Of course something did know the answer, being a Legendary Holy Relic from the creation of this world. However, it was also one of the things the Shield decided was best left to its user's intuition.

"Well, I guess I need to grind." With that the unstoppable fortress continued moving forward. It did not take the Hero long before the water level rose. She was quickly going from her ankles all the way to her waste. She felt the water starting to burn her skin as if it was acid, and taking a look at her Health it was already nearing half.

In response she took out a small bottle of red liquid, quickly drinking the amazingly sweet nectar. Within a moment's notice her Health Jumped up from the fifty to only a little over seventy five percent.

_You just need to get used to it Maple. Once you get immunity everything will be fine!_

Indeed she was starting to realize what this land was, but she also had knowledge on what needed to be done. In truth this land would have killed men ten times over by now, which was causing a stir among the main resident. It laid low and contemplated what manner of being had been approaching, how it had consumed many of its base creations.

Has Humanity finally created its predator?

Its interest was both peaked and sense of danger heightened. It would need to redeploy that which it thought to be inefficient then.

A small tick popped into Maple's mind as she stopped mid step. It was just like the time with the Vines, so she quickly turned around with her Shield braced. She felt a small thump, which she returned with a quick motion, "[Shield Bash]!"

Her Shield and arm both lit with green energies, quickly striking the point of previous impact. Out of the water quickly spang a large vine, one much thicker than the Assassin Vines from earlier.

**[Bruiser Bodypart Lv. 15]**

Seeing that it was flung out of the water Maple did not wait a second long, her mouth quickly biting through the plant. A large chunk was removed, causing it to seemingly back away for just a moment. She however had to lament that after its attack and her bite, the limb seemed to only be at about half its HP.

The same thing quickly happened after that, Maple's mental pings going in all directions. Just as before, she quickly turned about and fired [Bull Rush] into the direction of the most. A large wave of corrosive waters flying in all directions as a series of those vines collapsed into each other.

She turned around to see all the would be attackers seemingly to meld together. Their bodies forming into one as it took a vaguely humanoid form about itself. There was no true head, Maple noticed, only a giant wreathing set of vines in the place where it should be.

**[Bruiser Plant Golem Lv. 25]**

"Cool, but not good." She admitted with a shaky smile before raising the Shield.

The sound of wood against horn carried through the water. Maple could feel the slight pressure carrying itself through her limb, her sheltered skin burning from the water below. As for the creature, it retracted its hand to reveal a half dozen holes within its hand from the punch.

"[Bullrush]!" Maple retaliated with a blitzed forward into the main body of the Bruiser, just like the Horned Queen before it. With now a few dozen horns lodged into the congregation of Vines Maple activated her other skill, "[Shield Bash]!"

That small umph of strength caused the horns to tear upwards. If there were organs inside of it they would surely have been torn asunder by this move. Of course there were none, but being at just above half HP the Bruiser was not feeling the best.

In contest, the being brought its hand towards the girl, its guts trying their best to grip the horns.

"Come on [Wood Shield]!" And whatever it had became nothing, allowing Maple to bring herself to meet the incoming hand with a slap of the Shield. As her body was in water, the impact sent her tumbling to the underside of the creature's armpit.

She grew a smile, then opened her maw full of pure white teeth. Her bite sinked into the thing's vine like flesh, taking a moment to grip as hard as she could before tearing it away. With a swallow she watched as her SP quickly rose back into the excess range.

The thing was quick for its size, quickly retracting the injured limb in exchange for its other. However, as it did Maple simply absorbed the attack and activated Devour. What would have been a debilitating strike was quickly ensnared by the jagged and wood filled mawl of her Shield. It gave a massive crunch, consuming its entire right arm in the process.

**[Bruiser BioGolem] HP: 25%**

It slowly moved backwards as if in complete surprise of the events. It quickly grew three vines outfront, each growing a kind of eyeball like organ. It stood its distance away from Maple as if to study her. This Predator was not something to take lightly, especially if it survived impact by a Bruiser.

As for Maple, "So good, it was so good!" She cried before an idea popped up in her head, "Is it that if something is higher level, it will taste better?"

As Maple was realizing the reality of the world she was in, the entity knew what it should do next. Best to rid itself of this pathogen before it gets worse.

As Maple quickly popped her second Health Pot the water all about her began to shift violently. The trees that stood about her all but fell over into rubble, green vines growing straight out of them. A singular wave seemed to carry itself through the waters as Vines, Bark, and Roots all ran themselves into one another.

Maple could not help but drool as six Bruisers just like the one she was fighting were made. The original one had a pair of trees going into it, the slithering vines consuming them and quickly raising the Health to full within moments. Maple might not have noticed it due to her stomach, but all the trees within a few hundred feet of her were consumed by the making of these beings.

**[Bruiser Plant] Shield Unlocked**

**[Poison Immunity] has been Unlocked**

**[Genetic Manipulation] Moderate has been unlocked**

**[Bite] Max has been achieved, [Bite of Steel] has been gained**

"Fufufu." Maple raised the Shield into the air as all the burning she experienced subsided, "Come and fill my belly! [Provocation]!"

Her cry had matched the commands of the Entity. The seven charged her at once, fists all but prepared to punch her with their fury.

As for Maple, well she wondered how hard it would be to fit two of them into her mouth.

~~Omake~~

"Ah, I love the smell of Napalm in the morning."

The two soldiers in the pit look at each other then back at the speaker. Helicopter propellers could be heard in the background over the noise from the forest literally going up in flames nearby, the gunshots, and the fighter airplanes leaving the area.

"How did a fucking child get here?"

"And why in the hell are you wearing that weird getup."

"I wonder if the tree would taste better after being cooked"


	9. Ch 9: Toxins and Flight

The creature took one of its limbs and threw it towards the little girl; the strike quickly intercepted by the Hero's Shield. The attack made by the Bruiser was strong enough to shatter the strongest of warrior's bones. For some reason, the little girl was able to not only stand, but slowly shift her weight off to the side so that impact directed on the shield was directed off her.

With the chance opened, she shouted her skill, "[Horned Queen Shield], [Bullrush]!"

The shield suddenly animated with green light, quickly becoming the face of a monstrous creature with a few horns upon its face. Like a bullet, our Hero went flying into the beast with the force of a truck, slightly shifting the creature backward.

Maple however smiled as another foe came right towards her. Raising her right arm, the girl barely redirected a strike. In normal circumstances, the attack would have skewered her. Instead, in the place of the target was a second Bruiser, with a giant limb going right through killing them.

There was no scream however, as these were simply plants animated by the manipulation of a higher intelligence. Even while it tries to move away from the corpse, it notices a thorn on its side and tries to grab it.

Said thorn however was already moving, a smile upon her face was all the creature saw as she opened her mouth wide, ripping a large chunk off of it. This was part of the several wounds that now dotted its surface, and soon fell without much of a fight.

"One more! [Assassin Vine Shield]!"" The Shield Hero announced while pointing the weapon upon the last one, "[Esnare]!"

Before the being could remove its extended arm from the impaled one, dozens of vines quickly sprung up from the ground. It tried to pull away from the bindings, but such was the job of the Assassin Vines in life. A technique from its old kind, the Bruiser could not escape from the embrace.

"Time to eat!" And with that cheer she basically tackled the beast. Quickly a series of bites tore into the beast, and with no way to fight the attack the Bruiser was helpless. Maple easily killed it by severing its midsection. The flesh had a jerky-like smokey taste with more chewiness as she continued to devour the section.

It was kind of weird she would admit, as when the trees became animated their bark like flesh became more like muscle. She didn't really mind it since it was that much easier to consume.

As for the Entity, it was not enjoying this at all. So much of its biomass was being consumed by the little human that its existence was starting to be threatened! As if the poisons in the newly made spawn were able to be survived by the mass consumption.

However those combat forms were the best it could use, atleast without affirmative action. Yes, such action might be needed now.

The Entity could only hope post recovery went off without a hitch. It would be troublesome if beings like her were able to come back to reclaim what it had declared as theirs.

"Oh, something is happen- KYAA!" The ground underneath Maple quickly gave, throwing the little girl deep into the watery waste. She reached over to pick herself up, but quickly the ground once more shifted as the roots were being drawn up from the ground.

She was sent from one direction to another, the ground becoming something of a thick soup of mud and old grime.

The Entity remembered the last time it had taken this form, it had been when it killed two Seven Star Heroes. Yes, they challenged it during one of those pitiful wars they always waged. And the Entity smiled remembering how their corpses tasted.

They however were not like the little one it was facing, and the Entity knew something was different about her. No army and yet she had reached this far into its region without so much as a scratch. It needs to put her down now.

[break]

"Gah!" Maple finally was able to pick her head out of the water, her head spinning as she looked up.

It was by far the biggest shrubbery that she had seen, maxing out at a height of some hundred meters. Dozens of vines started to collide into it, the form of the creature becoming hunched over. A large alligator-like snout emerged from the front of the creature, completing the look.

With a loud roar dozens of pours opened from the beast, sending thousands of acid droplets into the air.

"So cool!" Maple exclaimed as the creature steadily grew a series of major vines, "But where is the sword?"

The vines wrapped up their development, the creation of four separate mouths finished. The consolidation finished with a molten yellow core resting in the beast's belly, the glowing giving off sheer heat.

"Well, I can't just ignore the boss!" Maple exclaimed while preparing her Shield, "Well, let's get this started!"

**[Vialan Lv. 50]**

Maple quickly raised her Shield as one of the vines with vicious teeth went flying towards her. The attack was that of a bludgeoning, quickly sending her back a few paces with the force of a semi-truck.

While Maple could feel the pain corse through her body, she had a response already prepared, "[Devour]!"

The Shield Animated, the jaws of a monstrous beast made of wood quickly biting through the vine. However such a mouthlike vine was almost double the size of Maple, and so the Shield only removed a quarter of the things mass in retaliation.

The being roared, but such a battle cry was so deep and bellowing that instead of being audible it shook the entire core of the swamp. Its other three limbs became animated, one of them aiming a side swipe at Maple.

The Hero quickly transformed her Shield into the Horned Queen variant, receiving the attack with dozens of horns. Maple could feel her arms cry with pain as the horns pierced the plant's flesh so easily, however she was soon airborne and still attached to the vine!

"WHOA!" The ground from underneath Maple's feet disappeared in that instant, the girl feeling the monstrous lift of Vialan. Why, she was going so far up that the air around her was rapidly dropping in temperature.

She quickly reached forward and gripped the green flesh, the spikes on her armor slowly sinking deeper into the skin so that she would not go flying off the being. It gave a massive whip, but Maple's grip was solid. The being soon realised she would not be so casually flicked off.

Maple herself grew a small smile, yeah things were bad but she was still alive. All this was insane, probably a good bit scary, but she was going to beat this, one bite at a time!

And so Maple started a slow crawl down the vine, her maw ripping chunk after chunk of Vialan's flesh asunder along the way. Green fluids leaked from the wound, but Maple didn't notice as she was savoring the flavors hitting her tongue. This creature was a fine delicacy. If she had to compare it to something, she would say the beast tasted like sugar, though the subtle burn gave an off taste.

At the time of impact her Health tanked to about a quarter of its original amount, though within only moments of consuming the being her health had all but recovered, as well as the SP used in her earlier Devour.

As she just reached the overfilling part of her meal, Maple felt the vine suddenly shift. The direction completely opposite, she turned her head to see another limb slowly move towards her with the sound of air being ripped asunder playing.

With a quick thought, she shouted, "[Devour], [Devour], [Devour], [Devour], [Devour], [Devour]!"

It was now a more instinctual reaction, the calling of her skill six fold. Extremely wasteful was this attempt, placing her SP at where a normal being should have it. But in times like this, irrational actions were exactly what was needed.

The Shield animated with three hundred SP empowering it. The maw of the Horned Queen quickly tore into the flesh first to free itself, then two and three times to tear away the protective flesh, and the remaining easily separating the vine into two!

The Entity that inhabited Vialan felt massive amounts of pain, the first time someone had actually been able to harm its true body. It could feel its enemy impacting its other limb, dozens of metal teeth and horns sinking into its body. It knew that something needed to be done, and so with its remaining inactive limb it gave a command.

Maple meanwhile had to turn herself to meet the incoming arm. She wasted no time in nomming the limb, the taste exquisite and recharging her lifeline. If that attack had gone through she might not have been alive, but she ignored the existential crisis in favor of having a delicious meal!

She was quickly able to raise her HP back to its max and started on recovering her SP when something seemed to blot out the sky. She looked up, her eyes seeing the massive maw that could swallow three of her at once. This time, however, her mouth was filled with the enjoyable green flesh of Vialan, meaning she could not call the Shield's abilities as she was swallowed whole along with the vine she was munching on.

[break]

The Entity had its vine to constrict the enemy like a snake would to its prey. Surely such a small and weak being would not survive its interior, in which the Entity constructed all forms of poison and toxin imaginable.

Soon though it felt the sting in its gut, the little creature trying its best to devour Vialan from the inside. At first the Entity simply increased the grip mandated upon the dreadful being, but soon it had to dedicate resources into the regeneration of lost tissue.

How was this happening? The Entity had already driven the toxins inside itself to its maximum level! Any more and the vine itself would burn away as its own body would not sustain it. How is it that even though it captured the foe the Entity has not killed it already!

And within a moment the nervous system gave the Entity a notice, the amount of damage done had just multiplied threefold. It demanded an eye be made, a view in the limbs interior where the enemy was. What it saw was the little one quickly taking bites out of its flesh before her weapon of choice animated to take several bite out of Vialan's flesh!

Quickly the order was given through its nervous system, the command to expel her! The Command was received by its limb, but as the movement began the little one simply grabbed the walls. The Entity commanded the limbs to crush her, to expel the human girl with enough force to make the being into a slurpy! Still, she held her place, and as her weapon became animated the Entity lost connection.

[break]

Maple broke free of that unusual prison that she had found herself in. It was her luck that the armor Erhard gave her held up so well along with her sheer vitality to not die inside. Why she even heard the potions within her backpack shatter from the sheer force of the attack!

It was her luck however that the egg was still safe, as she pulled up its stats in the top right hand corner.

**Rockjob Egg**

**Lv. 5**

**HP: 50/50**

**Vit: 25**

**Poison Resistance: High**

**Mutation Chance: High**

'_Huh, well that wasn't there before?'_ Maple thought for a moment, '_Okay, but thats for later.' _

It definitely was, as due to the vine's destruction she was now in free fall.

The sound of wind whipping by her ears was immense as she tried to straighten out. However as she did, the sight of the two remaining limbs coming towards her was as clear as day itself.

An idea sparked in Maple's head as she pointed the Shield away from the vines, rolling herself in a ball, "[Bullrush], [Bullrush], [Bullrush], [Bullrush]!"

Her body lit with the powers of the Shield, Maple quickly went sailing across the air and out of the way of those attacks. Finally with the chance Maple looked to see the actual health of what she was facing.

**[Vialan] HP: 70%**

The Vines seemed to be the large amounts of its health, she could guess, but at this rate she would be fighting the giant until the sun went down! There just had to be a weak spot, something that if Maple crashed into it-

'_Maybe the big yellow spot is a weak point?'_

With a target in mind, Maple angled the Horned Queen Shield toward it, the Shield acting as an air breaker. The Air quickly shattered around her, allowing the speed she was going to be even greater.

However the Entity was not a fool, the sudden change in her direction easily causing it to guess. Its remaining vines started towards her like a lineman attempting an interception, but as they neared the subject it somehow glowed with green light and started going even faster! The Entity roared with immense rage as it narrowly missed it!

As for Maple, the area around her the Shield had begun to heat up, a shield of heat covering her. It was getting pretty hard to keep the Shield pointed in the right direction, especially as she kept using [Bullrush] to speed herself up. However, she had only a few more seconds to brace as impact was imminent!

She grew a smile: she still had plenty of SP to spare.

"[Bullrush], [Bullrush], [Bullrush], [Bullrush], [Bullrush]!"

**KABOOM!**

And like that Maple slammed into the core of the beast, the sound of earth shattering proportions quaked through the air. The moment of impact even seemed to shake the air itself, causing a ripple that carried over the swamp.

The impact Maple made was quite something, and while not comparable to the atomic bomb relativity becomes your friend. Maple had of course broken the sound barrier, as she does which impacted the stationary object known as Vialan. The average size of a bullet going that speed is only .02 kilograms, compared to Maple's now 100 kilograms. That means a person Maple's size is doing about 34300 newtons of force, or about 5,000 times more damage that a bullet.

When it comes to certain things in this world, Level is simply the performance one can do. A gun in this world performs much worse than a duplicate on earth, as does a skilled craftsman can outperform an industrial factory at high enough levels.

So, when the Shield (who should only do quite the abysmal amount of attack) is in an extraordinary circumstance, things like level don't matter with raw output. If we were to put this attack into Level terms, she had just performed a level 85's empowered melee strike against the Entity in its weak spot.

So it was no surprise that the core popped like a water balloon.

The shaking of the realm did not stop with just the impact, for the roar of the Entity could be heard once the core was struck. It was where the multitude of organs were located in order to maintain such a massive form. Now it was reduced to that of lukewarm, golden water that could not maintain its form.

It tried to give orders to repair the damage, but shock was already settling into its system. So much damage could not be censored, and the nervous system that allowed the Entity control broke down immediately. All systems were shattering, and as the form was balancing a thin line when it came to its toxins the entire being could not be stopped from melting.

The Entity would have gone into a panic, if it was not that it died the moment all the cells that made up its mind melted into green plasma.

As for Maple, she laid in the bulk of golden water and plasma. With a small motion she took out the only remaining Health Pot, downing its contents to restore her health. It raised her to the middle part of her health bar, enough that traversing the now ruined corpse wouldn't accidentally kill her.

"... yamata…" She threw her hand in a small celebration, "I beat the boss."

**[Level Up] **

**Now Level 33**

**Skills Gain: [Biological Monstrosity Eater], [Genetic Manipulation: Max], [Blood of Toxins], [Blood of Plant Life], [Growth Correction of Monstrosity: High], [Personal Growth Correction: High]**

**Shields Unlocked, [Meteorite Shield Unlocked]: Ability: Meteor Crash**

"Yea…" Was about all she could say as the girl picked herself out of the sludge, steadily making her way out of the corpse while feeding the Shield some of the goop.

**[Vialan Shield Unlocked]: Ability [Summon Plant Monster], [Biohazard Shield Unlocked], [Genetic Manipulation Shield]: Ability [Genetic Table]. **

However that was not what she needed, no in her tired state Maple was looking for something in particular. The Sword of the Melromarcian King who sent her here. She searched for what must have been an hour, each step becoming more tiring as she begrudgingly looked for the weapon. Well, she was able to find a weird looking purple stone but there was no sword.

"Wait a second…" A thought finally hit her, and with a flick of her hand the loot menu came up. She read through it for only a moment until her eyes saw the item.

**[Sword of the Faubley Prince]**

**Once lost by a Prince who wished to avenge his family, it was dissolved by the Swamps he was forcibly disarmed by. The item itself remembers what it was, so it became whole once more.**

And like that she collapsed with a smile upon her face. Even as her SP was full and her body beyond human, there was a need for sleep. Changes needed to be made and lost progress to be made up for. Bathed in the literal lifeblood of a great foe, Maple slept.

**~Editor Corner~**

**Calculation of Impact**

Speed of Maple: 343 m/s

Time duration (max to 0): 1 sec.

Mass: 100kg

**Acceleration Calc**

a=dv/dt = (343m/s)/1s = 343m/s^2

**Force Calc**

F=ma

F= (100kg) (343m/s^2) =34,300 N


	10. Ch 10: The Hatching

The Sun shined over the Swamps of Oragauhst, the land for the most part devoid of trees. Such was the toll the Entity committed to defend itself against the intruder, and they would likely not regrow for centuries if left to their own devices. As for the toxic waters that surrounded the forest, within the coming months it will drain out and leave behind fertile dirt.

Indeed, the land will go back to the way it was. With the plague killed, man will likely try once more to reconquer the lands. For their chance of success, well nothing is there to stop them.

However, one can't ignore what would likely be the corpse that shall forever stain the lands with its form. Within only a night the toxins have all but drained themselves from the body, leaving behind whatever hide or had yet to be burnt away. Such material will rapidly petrify due to its making, becoming a literal mountain of rock like growth and a symbol of the Shield's grand triumph.

As for Maple, she had awakened to a stirring in her bag. It had been a good sleep, similar to what an athlete would experience after the greatest marathon of their lives. A little incoherent, it did not take her long to find what had awakened her.

Egg of an Abomination

Level 15

Vit 75

Poison Immunity

Mutation Override Occuring…

Assigning New Genome…

"Is it… hatching?" It did not take long for Maple to light up with realization, "Come on little guy! You can do it, I believe in you!"

Maple had never seen a creature being born before in real life. Though, she has seen videos of baby chicks and the hatching of Syrup in New World Online. The chance to witness its hatching was surely something she was not going to miss.

Maple held onto the egg with a grip one of a doting mother. Yes, she realized that maybe taking the egg to a boss fight was not the best thing, but seeing it hatching now was well worth the risk!

The sounds of breaking shells soon reached Maple's ears, the shaking became rapid and then suddenly stopped. Soon enough the top of the shell cracked open, and slowly the sign of a singular golden head poked itself out from the shell.

"Oh, you're so cute!" Maple cheered, but she was soon stopped as something else seemed to break from the shell.

From the left of the head emerged a second, its head slightly different from the other but still containing the golden hue. Quickly after a third emerged from it, the creatures all focusing on Maple with beedy golden eyes.

"..."

"Kya?" The middle one cried.

"KAWAII!" And with a swift motion Maple hugged the creature in her lap, a great smile adorned upon her face, "Oh you three are so cute! Here, let me get you out of that!"

With a few motions of her hand Maple quickly ripped the creature out of the shell, the full body of the being exposed to the world.

Like a turtle it had a massive shell, though this one seemed to be tilted upwards as if giving the creature it would house much more room. Small spikes bordered the edges of the shell. Its feet were of sturdy build, but Maple could already see signs of sharp claws it would eventually grow later in life. All that was left was a massive tail, a spike at the end of it similar to a morning star.

"Kyaa!" The little creature called out.

Maple patted their heads for a moment before a sudden thought struck her, "Are you hungry little guy?"

The little guys gave a slight nod, to which Maple simply grew a small smile. She picked it up and steadily carried him towards a rather fleshy looking part of the monster. With a small tug Maple was able to remove a piece of it and handed it to the little creature.

"Alright, here you go." The turtle abomination looked at the meal for only a moment before one of the heads ensnared it and started eating it. She grew a small smile herself, as the cute Hydra-like creature started nibbling on the pieces.

"Alright, now that I think about it, I need to give you a name." Maple thought to herself for what was fifteen minutes. Her desire to quickly name the little guy Syrup was there, but she already had a pet named Syrup.

Oh the troubles of coming up with another name though! It was such a perfect name that Maple could not fathom another. Such were the problems with different worlds, being in a medieval fantasy surely had some downsides.

"Yeah… I haven't seen the others in a while." Maple soon spoke, a small tug popping up in her heart, "Yeah, I wonder what Risa is doing right now. Is she looking for me?"

The Shield Hero thought to herself a little more, stretching the palm of her own hand for the moment, "Everything was real, so that meant any moment back there would have meant death for me. If I died, I would never have a chance to see Risa or the others again."

"Kyu?" The girl turned to see her hatchling looking at her with a series of tilted heads.

With a small smile Maple patted her lap, the now larger creature crawling into it. What was once a creature the size of a newborn kitten had now grown to the size of a large cat. With its sleek shell, the Abomination settled itself into Maple's lap.

"Sorry about that, I guess I was thinking a little too much there." she began to scratch the creature's heads, a small cry of enjoyment coming from them, "Well, I won't forget what happened before. So how about this, I'll name you Syrup the Second Serving! Like it?"

The three heads quickly gave nods, a small "Kue" coming from them as Maple fed it another slab of the plant meat. She herself got a small chunk in her hand, munching off of it as she opened up the menu to look at Syrup the Second Serving's Stats.

Syrup the Second Serving

Race: Abomination

Lv. 17

HP: 374

SP: 136

-{Attributes}-

Str: 204

Agi: 136

Vit: 187

Dex: 85

Mgk: 0

After that there were a few skills, some of them good and bad. For Maple however she was quite happy that her little guy was pretty strong on his own. While nowhere near the Vitality of herself, and probably never will be, Syrup was already sizing up.

And with that Maple went over to the other menus, Syrup leaving her lap to go eat more as she did a little work. The thing that caught her attention the fastest was the [Biohazard Shield] and its ability. With a few clicks Maple was able to see a variety of options, almost instantly becoming dizzy from the onslaught of statistics and data.

The little girl shook her head for a moment and gave the form a quizzical look. This was going to be something she needed to learn, that much she understood. This was the same thing as that [Poisoner's Shield, in that she needed to just experiment with them. Why, that is how she gets half her abilities.

And with that the two spent their morning near the carcass of the great being. Maple focused on her learning, using the ready plant meat all around her to manufacture Hazardous Waste far worse that the Entity was willing to make.

It was only after Maple finally crawled out of the chemical hole that she made that she looked over to see Syrup, "You're so big!"

"Kya!" They cheered as the now person sized creature walked over to Maple. The now four heads began to rub against her like an affectionate cat.

"Oh I can remember like it was yesterday," She said while hugging a head, "You were only so small, but now look at you!"

The creature did not mind much, simply having a little fun with its Mother. Happy Mother to it meant a happy life!

As Maple finished up with her babying of the little monster, "Well, we need to get moving. Are you fine carrying me Syrup?"

The heads all gave a nod to her, to which Maple smiled, "Yata! Then lets get some vegetables for the road and be on our way!"

They did not take long, for the most part just taking the largest chunk that Syrup could carry and tied to its back. It was quite easy, as Maple simply used her new [Ensnare] ability to wrap it around the Abomination's 'waist'.

With materials acquired the pair set off, Maple easily placing herself in between one of Syrup's many spikes. Due to the beast's improved Shell, it was much more able to walk long distances compared to its more pure cousins. The speed they went would be roughly 20 mph without breaking a sweat.

The lands were of course the same that Maple saw when she first came over, hills for the most part converted to farmland for large livestock and fields for people. This time, however, people had a good tendency to stare at Maple, and a good reason too.

No one knew what the fuck she was riding.

When it came to small towns they just walked through, no one daring to attack the adventurer who clearly punched the higher levels. However the curiosity was also something people had, like who in the world was this girl and her beast.

In the end it took the pair a little more than two days to arrive at Castle Town, the stockpile of Plant Meat for the most part gone as the gate was in sight. They did not have any real trouble when it came to Bandits and Monsters, likely because both parties were scared shitless of Maple Syrup the Second Serving.

The gates as always stood tall, the amount of traffic, howeve,r was quite low in respect to the early morning. In a few more hours the city's merchants would be waking up and moving about with all the standard operations.

Standing guard were the two guards pulling the night shift. They of course were still waiting on their replacements, so one could not fault them for becoming a little bit laxed. However, that did not stop them from looking at the horizon towards the incoming figure.

"Hey Johnny you know what's that thing coming closer to us?"

"Ah give me a second, [Farsight," The other said while using an eye improvment skill to see further, "Its the… fucking hell I lost the bet!"

Evan could not help but laugh, "So the Hero has returned? Doesn't that mean I won the biggest pot yet?"

"Well did it include a new minion?" The man asked with a raised brow, "She's got a new monster. It's like a Rockjob but with five heads and runnin' feet."

The two did not have much longer to talk, as their target of intrigue finally arrived next to them, "Hello there! Am I good to head in?" Maple called with a smile adorning her face.

"Hell yeah you can." Evan laughed while looking over the creature, "Though I can't say the same for your mount. It's too big and uh…"

"Oh really?" Maple quickly hopped off Syrup and landed upon the ground, "Hey Syrup, since you grew so fast could you shrink down too?"

The head's all looked at one another as if trying to figure out what exactly to do. It however did not take long for them to come to a conclusion, quickly shrinking down to the size of a large dog.

"Yata! Can Syrup come in then?"

"Yeah, better make sure you're known so no one doubts you are here." Responded the guard, who grew a smile while nailing the other in the stomach with his elbow, "Better yet, go see the King right away."

The girl took a moment to contemplate. She started to bite her lip, not really saying anything for the moment. Of course the two heard of the happenings in the royal court, and both agreed that it was bullshit. Most said they were too cynical because they never had time to head to Church, but the decided to just say fuck 'em for the time being.

"How about you get an escort." Evan said with a genuine smile upon his face, "A Hero of your caliber should definitely be getting one."

"Really?!" Maple's eyes lit with surprising excitement.

The two looked at one another, to which Johnny just gave a shrug, "I don't see why not. You are bringing an unusual beast to the Court of his Majesty, so security is paramount."

"Thank you!" Maple exclaimed with the beast simply cued in happiness.

And with that they headed out, the gate closed for the rest of the morning since no one actually was going to show up. Luckily for the two soldiers, the Captain decided to punish the other for being tardy to their post in exchange for his money from the bet.

Castle Town since Maple was last there had changed somewhat, the series of guards patrolling the streets much larger. As for Priest, while not as many as right after she was persecuted, there are still more than when she first came to town.

However such studying of the surroundings was ignored the moment Johnny opened his mouth, "Hey, you doing okay there?"

"Hmm?" Maple, who had opted to ride a top of Syrup, had tilted her head.

"Well you're looking from side to side." He said with a small frown, "You scared someone is going to jump out and get you?"

"I was?"

"Ah, maybe it was my imagination." He mused while the group soon ran afront two guards.

Said group quickly took steps to block their path, a mustached man standing upfront, "Why the hell arn't you guys standing guard at the wall?"

"Because your fucking late." Evan quickly rebutted the man, "Did a whore keep you occupied for too long?"

"You fucking-!" The man's seething soon tampered off before looking at the two with a scow, "I was attending morning service. You know our religious obligations have precedence before our feudal ones."

"First I ever heard of dat. Last time I checked the Church only met on Saturdays, not every single fucking day." Johnny gave a simple laugh, "You guys should realize it's no excuse to leave us to dry after a long night of work."

"Then maybe you should come join us instead of serving her Majesty," The mustached man claimed with open arms, "It's not like you've already left work for this damn whore you're escorting to your house."

Maple could not help but feel the insult, her face blushing with shame and anger while the man simply smiled happily. However, the man's face quickly changed as Syrup's many eyes gave the guard a glare, causing him to quickly reach for his sword.

However, before he could do anything two swords were quickly drawn, Johnny had his weapon pointed at the men's necks while Evan was more relaxed at his stomach, "I don't know if I should kill you for insulting our escort to the King or for blatant treason."

"Escort to the King?" his eyes began to widen as a snear ran across his face, "Its the fucking Shield Hero. You-!"

Before he could try to draw his sword again a sword was reared to his neck, the man held up by a single sword. The other men around him were going for their swords, but the low hum of something unnatural carried itself through the air.

Evan who had been more relaxed had signs of frost crawling from his hand, "She is our escort, and for good reason too. She's already paying for her crimes, and doesn't need us soldiers of her Majesty doing a streetside execution. Now get to work already!"

"Tsk." The men simply unguarded themselves before going around the escorts and their ward, however it didn't stop the lead from spitting at Maple's feet before heading out.

For Maple, she slowly lowered the prepared Shield when she was sure they were gone. If she was not riding Syrup, she probably would have fallen onto her own knees.

"And they say this girl could do all that." Was all Evan said as he sheathed his own weapon, "Come on, we need to keep moving."

"Y-yeah."

And with that they made their way out of the streets and towards the center Castle.

* * *

Full Character Sheets as of now:

Maple

Lv. 33

HP: 2812/2812

SP: 1406/703

Mana: 330

-{Attributes}-

Str: 71

Agi: 32

Vit: 703

Dex: 50

Mgk: 165

-{Skills}-

Bite: Max

Bite of Steel: All bites ignore damage resistnace.

Poison Immunity

Disease Resistance: Medium

Genetic Manipulation: Max: All aspects of the user are now up for editing by the system, as well as manipulation effects gain a massive increase in potency.

One Who Eats the Living: With the exception of those who are mindless, monsters under the user's level are affected by the [Fear] status effect. In addition: Those who are taken to half health due to Bite or other similar abilities experience [Terror].

Dominion of the Horned Rabbit Queen: The User calls upon the Horned Rabbits of the area, demanding them to pay homage and carry out their in bred duty of supremacy.

Blessings of the Shield: Increases all Raw Vitality Input by 25%, Increase Experience Gain, Lower Requirements for Skills, Experience Increase for Party Members.

Bottomless Stomach: User's stomach can never experience being too full. All food that is eaten after this point is transformed into SP. They can go up to double their SP in extra supply

Biological Monstrosity Eater: Everytime a monster is eaten, the consumer gains a chance of assimilation one of the monster's base abilities

Blood of Toxins: The blood of Maple is considered a very dangerous Poison. If someone were to come into contact with it, they will receive damage based on her Vit Score

Blood of Plant Life: The Blood of Maple is rich with plant growing nutrients, allowing her to forcibly grow plants if they took on her blood at an extreme rate. This however can lead to the plants acquiring mutations based on Maple's needs.

Total Defence: All Vit is doubled when calculated. Increasing Str, Agi, and Dex require 3 times the points.

Growth Correction of Monstrosity: High: Monsters under User's Control gain a high bonus based on their growth, but they however tend to become even more monstrous and weird in the process.

-{Abilities}-

Meditation: Regen 1% of HP and SP every Second. User is unable to complete actions while this is occuring.

Devour: User's weapon animates to attack a foe. The User's Vit is used when calculating damage for this attack.

Manufactor Poison: Opens a menu to create poison.

Provacation: Choose a target, they are now forced to attack the User. Resisting the taunt causes mental damage.

Shield Bash: User hits an enemy with their Shield, dealing 10% of their Vit as damage and forcing the target to do a Str test.

Meteor Crash: User forcibly accelerates themselves to an insane degree, equal to that of a astroid coming to earth. The user however must be in the air to use it.

Summon Plant Monster: Summons a plant Monster under the user's control. Its level is always -10 of the user and stats are based on the User's desire.

Syrup the Second Serving

Race: Abomination

Lv. 17

HP: 230

SP: 165

-{Attributes}-

Str: 204

Agi: 136

Vit: 187

Dex: 85

Mgk: 0

-{Skills}-

Innate Loyalty to the Shield Max: The user will always follow the commands of the Shield Hero, and nothing else. User however gains massive bonuses when following the Shield Hero's directions.

Abomination of the World: Creatures instinctively know something is wrong with the user, all lower level creatures naturally staying out of its way.

A Thousand Heads: When one head is cut, two more grow in its place. These will recede to the minimum head count after one day.

Impenetrable Shell: The Shell is so strong that no piercing attack can go through it. Bludgeoning however can be a resistance.

* * *

~Omake from Editor~

The surroundings were not familiar. It looked to be an enclosed space with a sun that reflected on all the surfaces, though it was controlled by the taller being that entered the area. But at least it was still alive.

The little one was not successful in destroying its true self as she thought. True that the Entity did not exist anymore, but with time it shall flourish again. Now, if only to escape this strange place it had found itself.

The room suddenly burst into light around it. Some noise could be heard coming closed, however, with no eyes created from the limited biomass it had, it could not understand what was happening. A ungodly amount of pain coursed through its remaining bits and for a small moment thoughts of true death went through its thoughts. The area around it suddenly went to darkness.

When reality came back to it, a strange feeling of wrongness was felt. It had felt like it was back in its original body but something was damping its senses. It tried to create vision for itself, but the cells in this Entity were not responding to its commands. It could only feel the water moving at its roots and no sun on its body.

A ripple could be felt in the water and the whole Entity went on high alert, some control came back to it and took advantage. Taking advantage of some control the Entity made some eyes to see the situation.

A large lizard-like creature was slowly making its way towards its body through the water. Large fins of an odd shape of varying sizes rang downs its spine. As the creature crept closer a feeling of hostility was taking over. It has just obtained a new body, it would not be defeated now!

Large vines came out of the entity and wrapped itself around the lizard. It put up a fight. Started to claw and tugged on the vines as they became tighter on the creatured. Hah! This was an easy opponent and shall be crushed by its only carelessness for walks so near the Entity. The lizard though suddenly stopped moving all together.

The entity was confused, why did the lizard stop its attack? The fin on the back of the creature started to glow a bright blue. A large white stream of light came straight from its mouth and hits its new body. It shall not be killed here (again)! The vines continued its assault, adding mouths as well to spit the acid it had coursing through its biomass.

The other creature continued to fight, shooting lights stream at the Entity and clawing the vines that were too close. It even took one of the vines and beamed it right into the mouth!

The creature, however, never did aim for the main area of the body for where its thoughts reside. So, when the body began to burn all around the Entity, it made an escape. Now with its smaller but more potent biomass, the Entity went out to find more substance to create a new and even better body then before.


	11. Ch 11: The Lonely King's Hill

The Court of the Regent King Aultcray Melromarc the Thirty Second had been somewhat of a stress for the old King. His biggest pain recently has been supporting the income for the Hero's and their adventurers. They needed to become strong, but no one else was willing to help pay for them!

Oh sometimes he wished his wife, the Queen Herself, could come back to help him in these matters. However, she was gone for the near future as (thanks to their successful summoning) everyone has been claiming de jure control over the Heroes!

There was a sick sense of irony that his punishment to the Shield has been helping his Wife, as she was now at the mercy of their Kingdom. Well anything to stick it to Siltvelt and their fucking monsterous asses!

As for the funding problem, well Aultcray was becoming a bit pissed at the situation. Pope Bicas T. Balmus had followed his word in helping the King administer the realm, however the fool is not donating any of the promised funds! Add in that if the reports are true about the ruins up north, then Aultcray would be hard pressed to even be able to feed his people!

Ah, but he has already justified having to support the Heroes, especially his daughter. The King knew he's not going to fool anyone if he supported the Spear far more than the others because of Malty. Truely, he'd only need to blame his wife in taking his poor little Melty with her to fucking Faubley!

Now he was alone with a bunch of sniveling, craven idiots who couldn't stack a single coin! He was a fucking Warrior not a Mechant!

"Where the fuck is Cleaves!" He yelled while picking himself from the chair, "I haven't heard from that damn Spymaster in three days!"

"Guh! Uh, I believe he went to report directly to her Majesty!" The attendant to Aultcray's right cried out.

"That fucking Demi-Human." he grumbled to himself before falling back into his seat, "Why does she trust the bastard if he just bails the first moment he gets! I need to know something! Lawernce, see to inform the fucker that either he shows up in court or I will have him executed!"

"A-are you sure about that sir?"

"Yes, since if he's not by my side how can I be sure he's not trying to kill me." Aultcray grumbled before stretching his arms up into the air, "It's like I'm losing the Kingdom I worked so hard to protect."

The attendant said nothing, his eyes not coming anywhere near his liege. In the end, that order would stop at him since he was instructed by the Pope to not disrupt the status quo. Of course it also didn't help Lawerence didn't know where the fuck the guy was. All he knew was no one had ordered him to have the King poisoned yet.

A sound of footsteps shifted Aultcray's attention from the attendant. Instincts quickly had him straighten his form, eyes becoming more alert as he looked towards the end of the hall. Within moments four forms came into view; most of them the personal guard to the King. These men were recruited and trained by the King himself and were the few he could trust fully.

Ones built for War.

The two personnel quickly kneeled to the King, which caused the other to do the same. He could not help but raise a brow at the center figure.

"We have brought to you the Shield Hero your majesty!" Captain Alphonse claimed while his back was straight up, "She has come here with two guards from the gate who saw to escort her, along with her personal beast of burden."

"She survived?" Aultcray heard Lawrence mutter in surprise, and he would as well. Aultcray did not expect the girl to survive given what happened to him within the Swamps.

He waited a moment before making a motion with his hand, "Those of my guard, you are to assume places guarding this hall. As for you, Hero of the Shield, you may rise before me."

All did as he said, words made clear as he rhythmically tapped the chair. Such was the power of a monarch when one does exactly you desire. They could choose to not to listen and then face drastic consequences.

"I will admit, Shield Hero, now is not the best time to have come to my court. Especially if you have failed in your task." Aultcray could see the little girl shake under his eyes, but she stood with a firm spark in her eyes.

"I-I have!" She seemed to do something within the air before a sword suddenly fell into her hands. She stood perfectly straight and extended the swords hilt first towards the king.

Something moved in the King as he saw the weapon. The blade white with golden encrustment just like that of the Cardinal Sword itself. However, even the King could not believe his own eyes.

"Why are you standing like that? I cannot tell if it's the real thing with it being so far!"

"Uh, okay!"

Just as he said, the girl quickly climbed up the staircase to the throne. Aultcray could not help but notice how she seemed to be traveling much faster than before, reaching the speed he would have originally expected of a human. However, right now his mind did not want to mull on the nature of Heroes, but instead the weapon that she presented him.

Once more he scanned it, the ruby red centerpiece aligned with the series of scratches both himself and his ancestors have inflicted upon the weapon. What should have been impossible was in fact here, and as he took the weapon from her his heart felt elated.

It weighed the same as before, the balance holding up. In the little off center of the sword was a groove in the weapon where he recalled blocking one of the Hakuko's strikes against his sister. Yes, it was when he had fled Faubley and needed to cross through the Country to find asylum.

It was a mark showing how he was willing to protect his sister while the dulling of his blade was his revenge against the demi-human hordes. She was not with him now, but Aultcray feels he sees her through Melty, his second daughter. With the blade before him again, he could feel the weight of his old family's blood run through his veins.

It was back when he was young.

When he had lost all but the clothing on his back.

A rage in his heart.

A Sister who he had yet lost.

And a desire to once more make a name for himself.

Before he knew it, the King had placed his hand on the sword's grip.

"Fuck!" A thunder-like sound roared through the room followed by the clanking of metal. Aultcray could feel his hand burn from the rejecting, "That fucking Staff. If you are going to deny me my own family heirloom why not come to me!"

Nothing answered his call, the King's true weapon forever eluding him. It was just for a moment, but he really just wanted to tell the world to go fuck itself. He wanted to head out again and protect his family and country from the hordes of Demons just like he did when Siltvelt tried. Instead he was forever squabled in the politics of this damned realm.

It was then he saw the sword glint again, once again brought before him. He looked up to see a shaky smile upon Maple's face. It was an innocent one, similar to that of his daughter Melty and by a further extent Lucia, his Sister.

Why the fuck was she holding his sword up for?

"... thank you." he automatically replied while accepting the weapon back. For now it would lay in his lap until the time comes one of his descendents choose to wield it.

"Are you, uh, alright Mr. King?"

Finally back into reality he looked at the Shield, the girl squirming a bit back. It was just that she fell under his gaze for what she had done to his family.

"Maple of the Shield." He called out with steel building back inside of his heart, "While I cannot forgive you yet for what you have done, I thank you for bringing my sword back."

"Y-yup! You're welcome." She said while giving the King a bow.

"So may I ask, what of those monsters that live in the swamp? What is their state as of your return?"

"I killed the boss!" She quickly said with a smile, "Nothing else attacked me after that, so I think the area's been cleared out. Why even all the water is gone!"

"Really?" He could not help but raise a brow at this, "And you are sure that nothing had attacked you upon exit, the toxic waters that claimed entire armies have dried up?"

"Uh, yea I think." She responded while scratching the back of her head.

"So the Shield Hero has reclaimed an entire duchy of land for Melromarc..." He could not believe his own words, "You have done more than I had asked of you."

"Did I? But I couldn't get your sword without killing the boss."

"Really? You killed the being who plagued the realm for hundreds of years?"

"Yup."

Aultcray simply shook his head. The ramifications of this girl essentially getting a claim on the Duchy being shoved out of his mind. No, she had just done something unbelievable and could lead Melromarc into times of prosperity. If only it had happened before the damn Waves.

"I have a second task for you, Shield Hero." He could not help himself from smiling, "As you have done the impossible, I already know of your next task."

"W-what would that be?"

"I desire you to head to the County of Sea Rock that rests in the Duchy of Orleans up north. You see the lands once held were once plentiful of food until only a few months ago when the Waves hit. It was then devastated, the lack of crop and the people panicking has stretched my reach and the food supply thin."

"You… want me to fix it?" Maple hesitantly exclaimed with a shakily raised brow.

"I had heard that Cardinal Heroes once before completed great feats we the people of this realm could never imagine, providing miracles that show their status of godhood." He simply gave a short laugh, "That is your trial, to complete a miracle."

To both his surprise and content the little girl seemed to glow a formed a smile, "I can do it! You can count on it!"

"Then begone, I do not want to see your face until you have completed this task for me!"

"Okay! I will try my best!" She quickly left the room, a weird monster following behind her.

In the end he could only laugh, laugh at what the world had given him. He was not the best judge of character, but he could not stop feeling like that girl had been the most earnest person to have walked into his court this entire week!

Why, even for a second, he wondered if she actually did all that she was accused of.

**King Aultcray the XXXI**

**Regent of Melromarc Kingdom**

**Diplomacy: 10**

**Martial: 33**

**Stewardship: 5**

**Intrigue: 0**

**Learning: 3**

**Traits: Brilliant Strategist, Aggressive Leader, Experimental****, Game Master, Vassal Hero****, Chaste, Temperate, Wroth, Pride**

**Editor's Corner: **

**Alternate Names of Chapter: Lone King Hill, King Guy, King Gate. **


	12. Ch 12: Caught Red Handed

Maple quickly made her way towards the city center, going through the alleys as a means of escaping the heavily crowded streets. She had over time become used to routes like this, her instincts telling her to stay away from the wider, open streets. The only place she has felt welcomed here in the capital would be the markets, where Erhard's word was respected by the group of merchants that do business and became friends with him.

Which is what brought her to the blacksmith's door and (with a confident stride) she entered with a bell ringing above her head.

"Hold on I'll-" The blacksmith paused and a small smile formed on his face when he saw who was at the door, "Thank the Gods you're alive. So, uh, did the armor hold up well enough?"

"Yup, it did a really good job!" Maple gave her own smile in return, the brightest kind that engulfed her face, "I was even able to kill the boss too!"

"Killed the boss? I didn't know that land had a Royal." Erhard simply shook his head for the moment, "Then again, I should expect Heroes to find the boss if there was one around. Go have a seat while I whip us up some tea."

"Great! Thank you!"

With a minor skill the smith started a pot of boiling water for their tea. Maple went to the back room, quickly bringing back a second chair for a side table which rested behind the store front. As for Syrup, the beast had shrunk himself down to the size of a small cat and settled himself in Maple's lap once she sat down.

Within a few moments Erhard himself came back with the tea set, pouring the water into what looked to be crude metal cups. The cups were Erhard's own creation. The man loved to smith as it was his livelihood, so the man decided that most of his equipment and everyday items would be of his own making. However, he was an armorsmith, so his other wares were not of the same quality.

With those in hand, Erhard took a scoop of an odd assortment of herbs into the hot water without care. He did not bother with a strainer when the pair of cups were placed on the table before Maple.

Maple herself picked up the utter barbarous tea and had herself a sip of it, "Ah… it's been so long."

"Well sorry I didn't pack any for you, but I thought some water purifier would do you well enough." The man admitted as he himself blew off some heat before taking a drink himself, "Though why haven't you complained about the making yet? Normally people don't like my Adventurer's Brew."

"Hmm, well it's got more taste than normal." Maple soon took another sip to judge the flavor before shrugging her shoulder, "Maybe only adventurers can enjoy it!"

"Ha, I would agree with you, yet my old buddies hate drinking it when they come over." Erhard had himself a small laugh before looking over to Maple's lap, "So what happened to the Rockjob?"

"Oh Syrup, he's right here!" Maple cheered before lifting the small creature over the table, "He's got a shape change ability, so he can get super small or super big whenever he wants!"

The Smith could not help but blink at the monstrosity with a new found confusion, "Uh, what in the world happened?"

"I… don't know. I think he mutated." The Shield Hero mentioned with an offhanded wave before hugging the reptile, "He's so cute though! Thank you so much for choosing him!"

"Yeah, he's cute right now." Erhard could only wonder how big does he get, "I take it you'll still be able to take care of him like this?"

"Yup! I just give him some of my supper after a day of farming." Maple gave the abomination a few scratches under each of its chins.

"Alright, if it works it works I guess." Erhard admitted as a soft ring sounded from the doorway.

The two of them turned to look towards the source, seeing the rather young man come into the shop. He had jet-black hair, tired if strong looking blue eyes about himself. Maple recognized the boy, Ren Amaki the Sword Hero.

"Hello there," Erhard announced while getting up from their seat, "Welcome to my shop, kid. So are you looking for a new armament or a piece of armor?"

"I wanted to look at your swords and get some armor." He responded with a brisk efficiency to it, "Where can I find the swords?"

"Over at the wall." Erhard happily pointed out.

Maple could not help blandly staring at the Sword Hero, as it was apparent Ren didn't even notice her. So with a brisk tiptoe she made it to the counter and watched as he wielded every single weapon he could lay his hands on. Though, why were they not blasting themselves out of his hands?

"Who's there!" Within a moment's notice he turned, dropping the sword that was in his hand to one instantly appearing in his a quick survey of the room he spotted her, "Maple? What are you doing here?!"

"Uh, having tea?" She shakily said while showing off the cup she was carrying, "How are you holding those swords?"

"You mean…" He looked between both Maple and Erhard, his face quickly becoming blistering red for a moment before a sigh escaped his mouth, "Fuck."

Both Maple and Erhard shared a look, both wondering what the hell he was thinking. Erhard was the first to put two and two together, "So you're the Sword Hero? Last I heard you were traveling into the Southern Mountains to test your endurance."

"I-I was simply escorting my last companion home." Ren answered while taking a step back, "I simply heard you sold good armor and thought I'd show up."

"So the rumors are true, you've been getting rid of your Champions." Erhard did not receive a response from the kid so he just continued, "Though that does leave a question, why the hell are you looking at my swords? I understand armor since the little miss needs it too, but she can't wield anything more but that shield."

"Did she not tell you?"

"Maybe not, but that doesn't mean I can tell when something is wrong here."

"Look." Ren simply gave a sigh, "I'll pay extra for the armor, just ignore my perusing."

The two once more shared a look, Maple simply shrugging her shoulders in response to whatever was happening.

"Fine, we'll keep our mouths shut but you need to tell us what it is you're doing."

The swordsman gave a nod, "Alright, I was copying your weapons. Whenever I wield a Sword of my choice it gives me a chance to add it to the selection of weapons I can use."

"Is that so?" Erhard walked around the counter and grabbed a shield that was resting upon the wall. He walked over to Maple and handed her the shield.

**[Hard Steel Shield Unlocked] **

"It gave me a new Shield!" Maple announced with a great smile upon her face, though soon she got a small bit of confusion, "How did you know about this? It's so cool!"

"You could do the same in Brave Star Online, but it's much easier here." Ren admitted with a sigh, "is that enough to make you happy?"

Erhard gave his own sigh as well, "It is, though I guess this is akin to stealing my intellectual property. You're going to pay double for that armor you hear."

"Alright alright." He admitted while walking up to the counter, "Do you have any spare pieces of plate? Maybe some Chain?"

"I'll see what I have, though it might be my only set meaning it will cost more."

With those words smirking Erhard went into the back, leaving Maple and Ren by themselves for the moment. The boy seemed bothered by the interaction as he began biting his lip, as Maple guessed he didn't like being caught.

However, she didn't want things to get so drab, "So, uh, how has your grinding been?"

"It's been pretty good." He answered quickly, "With all I've done I've already hit level 30. How about yourself? You got stuck doing those tasks right?"

"Yeah, though it hasn't been bad." Maple rubbed the back of her head for the moment, "I got to fight this really big plant monster a little bit ago. He was really tough, and I mean really tough!"

"Is that so? Any idea if he will spawn again?"

"Uh, I don't think he's going to come back." Maple admitted with a small frown, "If you kill one of the bosses they don't seem to respawn. I remember killing a whole lot of Horned Rabbits, but the Queen never came back."

"Is that so? Any idea why it would be like that?" Ren genuinely asked with a raised brow.

"Uh, maybe it's because it's real?" The Shield answered with a shrug of her shoulders.

"I mean, I'm not strong enough to fight any of the Bosses myself, so I haven't tried." Ren scratched his head for another moment with a good bit of confusion, "Hmm…"

"Well kid, here's what you asked for right?" Erhard came from the back with a small pile of gear in hand and a laugh, "This is going to be 400 silver."

"That's it?" His eyes widened a little while looking at moderately high value gear.

"Well you don't have any more right?" Erhard simply shook his head for the moment, "Look, I'd love to get some spite off ya but fucking you over that much isn't my thing. My thing now is that you gotta come to me whenever you need gear, along with any monster parts you get. I can make you and the girl here some nice things if you do that."

"You want to be my blacksmith?" A small look of confusion appeared upon his face, "How can you even think that?"

"How? Do you think I'm a brain dead fool?" Erhard shook his head, "I guess I was blessed with the misses if this is how the rest of the heroes act."

"Uh, sorry." His face went peet red once again, "I'll shop only here."

"Good, and if you ever do otherwise I'll be sure to tell every merchant about your little technique."

"Tsk, alright." The Sword simply shook his head for the moment, "I'll be heading out then."

As he did so, Maple felt a little bad for the fellow as did Erhard. While he did get himself in this situation, his leaving was going to put a bad taste in at least Erhard's mouth.

For Maple, well she was the one who called out to him, "Don't you want to stay for tea?"

"You sure?" He said while turning around to face them, "I mean you already got blackmail on me, you shouldn't drive it in."

"Oh don't be so sour!" Maple claimed with a pout, "Come on, the tea is really good!"

"Uh, uh-!" His face went red for the fifth time since he entered, "I'm not the most social uh, you see. I don't think you'd want me here any longer than I need to be."

"Pretty please!"

"Guh, uh-"

"I'll let you pet Syrup!"

Ren's eyes could only widen as he looked at the weird abomination Maple placed onto the counter. The three heads of Syrup looked towards him with suspicion for a moment before shrugging. An unacknowledged cue could be felt in the room, and confusion was completely written all over the Sword's face.

"Fine, I'll stick around for one cup."

"Yata! Did you hear that Erhard, do you still have some hot tea?"

"Of course, maybe we can get a good thing going here. You probably need more than just armor right?"

"Uh, yeah."

And with that the Hero of the Sword sat himself at the table, a small makeshift cup placed in front of him. He seemed a little skeptical at first taking in a sip of the drink. In the next moment, he spit it out faster than he could even curse.

"Guh!" The sword could not stop himself from catching his own breath, "What the hell is that?! I got fucking Poison Resistance from that!"

"Adventurer's Brew." Erhard laughed for a moment, "I guess not all the Heroes are like each other."

The Sword of course had his brow raised and turned towards the little one. Maple simply gave him a shrug and resumed drinking from the cup she was holding. However, in the next moment she frowned at an emptied cup infront of her.

"Uh, if you don't want it can I have it?"

"Are you sure?"

"Yup! It would be rude if we didn't finish it!"

Ren could not help but feel a small drop of sweat coming down his brow, the slight hesitation in letting her drink it. However, whether by sick mortification or simple confusion he filled her glass up.

And just like that Maple took in the drink, a brow being raised, "Hey Erhard, is this one weaker than before?"

"Yup," He laughed again while shaking his head, handing another glass into the Swords hands, "Here's some lemonade for ya since the tea didn't sit well."

A rather stunned swordsman simply took his seat, sipping on the now dull taste of lemons. Such lemons were cultivated in the southern plantations in 5 acres long rows. Though the hero that created them forgot they were supposed to grow on trees and settled for making them bushes. Now this oversight could have been ignored if it was not for the case that this world's raspberry supply grew on massive thorn trees now.

Now Ren's mind was not thinking about how the lemons were grown, but you right now are probably experiencing similar confusions .He quite literally had no idea how Maple was able to drink what was essentially poison. Though there is a small side effect that Adventurer's Tea could help with dulling pain and increasing one's health. It was a healing potion-like substance that Adventurers drink on a daily basis. Not addictive, but if you haven't built up an immunity in some way you were in for a ride.

So everyone simply sat for a bit, sipping on their drinks while the day moved onwards a little more. Ren himself was simply one of the abomination's heads as it inched towards him on the table.

"So when were you thinking of heading out for the next task?" Erhard asked the Shield Hero with a drink in his hand.

"Hmm, maybe in a couple of days?" Maple answered with a raised brow, "Though I don't know how long it's going to take. Maybe a few weeks?"

"Well be sure to be ready in two weeks for the wave." Ren said with a sleepy expression.

"Huh?! The Wave is going to be in two weeks, no one told me!"

"You didn't know? Haven't you gone to the Hourglass?"

"Huh? What's this about an Hourglass?" Maple asked with a genuine confusion about herself.

"Did your game not have one?" He received a shaking of the head from Maple, "That's… odd. You sure about it?"

"Yup, of course we had events but those were sent by the admins to everyone in a newsletter." Maple answered with a stern nodding of the head before tilting it, "Is this Hourglass similar?"

"Uh, kind of. You see the Dragon Hourglasses are built in mechanics…"

It did not take long for the Sword to explain the Hourglasses, Maple trying her best to understand it. Erhard of course knew a little about them, but was learning a hell of a lot more from the Sword. He explained how they detailed the arrival of the waves and that once a timer runs out they would be teleported to the event. Those who went were members of their party, and their job was to kill the boss before too much damage was caused. Doing so would end the event and close all the "Reality Tears" that allowed the monsters to spawn.

"What about Guilds? Are they teleported too?"

"Can't say, never really tried it." Ren admitted with a lethargic shrug, "So when are you going to go to the Dragon Hourglass to sync up?"

"Uh, where is it?" Maple asked while drinking the last of her tea.

"In the Church."

"Guh!" And within a moment she began to cough, a quick moment later her body recovering from it, "Th-the Church!?"

"Yeah, something the matter with it?"

"I, uh, don't want to be there." The Shield answered timidly, "But I need to go there, don't I?"

"Sometime before the Wave, otherwise we are going to leave you behind." Ren answered with a straightforward if lethargic manner, "Well, I'm getting a little tired so I'm going to head out. I guess I will be seeing you all another day, thanks for the lemonade."

And with that the Sword Hero left, leaving the two in the shop slightly up heaved. After a few moments the smith simply sighed as he looked towards Maple, "I guess your time limit is two weeks."

"Yup…" Maple answered while resting her head on the table.

Erhard thought to himself for a moment before cracking a smile, "While I definitely can't leave my shop for a week, I might be able to help you in the Wave."

"R-really!?"

"Yeah, I'll need to get the old armor out and warhammer." He answered with a humorous laugh, "Who knows, maybe my old party would be willing to help you."

"Really, Yata!" Maple cheered while clicking through her options, "I will put you down as a member of the Guild then!"

"A Guild, just like the legends of old?" This time Erhard had his brow raised with a wonderment about himself, "And what would the name of it be?"

She could not help but crack a massive smile, "Maple Tree!"

~WOOSH~

This lizard creature is stronger than the entity anticipated. It was relentless on following where it had retreated and had once again confronted the Entity. This time it was prepared and with total control of the biomass, switching to its true form.

The fight was more energized between the two kaijus with more lasers and snapping vines attacking each other. It was to those who witnessed the battle, a war between titans. An opportunity came to the Entity as the lizard rolled from a vine attack taking its eyes off for only a second. With the delay in time, the Entity charged an overloaded poison attack and spit it on the others face.

The next laser from the lizard mouth was not as accurate with it going to the left of the Entity's face and only taking out a few vines. With this the entity charged another poison attack and made another direct hit on the lizard. Finally, the lizard fell into the nearby ocean.

Sensing others nearby the entity decided to retreat. It needed to recharge after the major hit it took from the laser crazy lizard.

And why did the lizard have a theme song when it moved?


	13. Ch 13: Growing Plants

The sun slowly rose above the mountain range that rested upon the fringes of Melromarc, shining itself upon the valley below. The Melro Mountains have always acted as the border between those who have attempted expansion and the natives. The only successful campaign against the country was when the Demi-humans used the ocean.

Said demi-human settlement to the south however would soon become disenfranchised from the other Demi-humans, the Great War becoming the chance they wanted. When the Demi-human advancement into Melromarc had failed in the Ougaughst Swamp, the new Republic of Shieldfreeden took the opportunity of the major loss to become independent from their continental counterpart.

For Maple, she never knew of the bloody history of where she made camp. The Shield simply enjoyed the sight of the massive range while cooking for herself a small morning stew. A slightly large bear-like carcass laid at Maple's side, a beast that Syrup killed an hour after making camp. While they could tolerate eating the creature straight, sometimes you just want the luxury of cooking such fine meat.

It had taken over an entire night, but the stew had finally cooked properly. Maple was throwing in the final round of salt and spices Erhard had suggested for the stew. However, it was a little odd to be given a baseball size salt crystal to shave off instead of a simple salt shaker.

After adding two more shavings from the crystal, Maple took a small sip of the broth.

"Sugoi, it's even better than last night. But, hmm…"

Maple reached into her bag, hoping that maybe she might still have pieces left from her previous foe. She could still recall the taste of when she ate the meat raw and maybe its was what the stew was missing. At first she could not find any and seemed as if she had finally consumed all the meat. That was, until she saw something small shining at the bottom of the bag.

"Huh, was this a part of the swamp boss?"

She reached in and took what looked to be a crystal and brought it out of the bag to get a closer look. A purple glow covered her hand. The crystal itself was quite odd, and with a little knock on some nearby rocks, Maple confirmed it was a similar structure to that of the salt crystal. Curiosity got the better of her, and Maple decided to lick the odd piece figuring it was just odd colored salt.

"Sugoi!" Her smile reached from ear to ear as her tongue touched it. It had a taste similar to all of the bosses that she ate, but was far superior. It was as if the flavor that gave them such epic proportions was concentrated into a single item.

Oh it would work so good with the stew!

With that thought in mind the Shield Hero took a knife out and tried to strike the crystal, but instead of breaking the crystal the knife just slid across it. A sharp sting came from her hand from the path the knife took off of the crystal. Her blood splashed on the item and started eating away the crystal itself.

"Oh no oh no!" With a quick motion Maple ran to the pot, dumping the crystal into the sludge along with the small drop of her blood. Instantly, the crystal dissolved completely into the pot.

"..." The amature chef looked at her meal for a moment before shrugging and filling up the prepared bowls, "Alright, time to eat Syrup!"

"Kyaa!" The beast who was now the size of a large dog quickly made its way over. The head count for Syrup had been changing quite a bit, but Maple noticed that it seemed to stay at about 3 heads for itself. Either way, it happily ran over to her and ate from the bowl that Maple gave it.

With her friend happily eating Maple herself began to eat. The moment she started to eat it, she could not stop herself from eating the entire dish. Within a moment of starting, Maple had eaten the entire thing, bowl and all.

**[New Genetic Material Detected…]**

**[Assimilation]: [Hide of the Dragon Emperor]**

After seeing that come across her screen, Maple quickly checked up on the effects. She didn't stop smiling, as it looked to have been a massive buff to her defence. Why did she not eat this sooner, Maple would not know. Well then again, she didn't know it would give her any ability.

"Hey Syrup, are you ready to get going?"

"Kyaa!"

Once camp and all their items were packed up and put onto the Abomination's Shell they were on their way. A small kue was given before Syrup began their last few hours of travel towards their destination.

The horizon to the north was covered in a series of massive mountains, similar to those Maple saw near the Swamp of Ougaughst. If her memory and map served her right, that mountain range was what protected Melromarc from the outside world. They were, for the most part, completely impassable by land travel due to the rough terrain and the Dragons that lived there.

While it was an awe inspiring mountains range, there were people who lived at the foothills of these structures. As Maple looked around, she could see the signs of major damage all around her. Full forest of trees showing signs of a major fire and hills with large scares running along their faces.

Where there should have been animals grazing, were instead empty fields filled with thick grass all about. Maple could have sworn she saw movement in one of the fields, but whatever roamed in the grass was trying its best to run away from her.

Soon Maple made it to her destination, the City of Bucharest. All about the City Maple noticed similar massive scorch marks to the ones she saw earlier. The fields boarding the town that should be green were nothing but ashe. All in all, Maple could not believe the pitiful state the town was in.

She arrived at what should have been a guarded gate and instead was greeted to a broken frame and no apparent barrier. Maple could not help a chill go up her spine while going past the ruins.

Erhard only gave her a brief summary of what happened here, that this is where the Waves first hit Melromarc. Since they were at the edge of the Kingdom, the Royal Levies were not fully assembled till a few days after word of the first attack. So the Monsters had enough time to break through the walls, killing a good number of the population until the Levies finally arrived and crushed the Waves.

As the Shield Hero wandered the streets she did not see very many people going about in the city. The few she did see were walking slowly, a fallen look upon their faces. Maple almost instinctively covered her nose, the stench coming off of these people was not the most pleasant.

How would she get started to help these people?

Should she contact the local authorities? She was doing this for the King, so she should have permission to at least talk to them. Ah, but what if it takes too long for anything to happen? She only has less than two weeks to take care of everyone here before she needs to head back for the next Wave.

Soon though Maple was brought out of her thought with the sound of clanking metal. In a motion that was hard for Maple to really follow, one of Syrup's heads quickly went to the source.

"Gah!" With a fluid motion Syrup whipped its head, sending the assailant flying in front of them. Maple's eyes met that of a little boy, younger than even herself being tossed onto the ground like a rag-doll.

However, as their eyes met the boy quickly got onto his feet and started into a full sprint away. In reaction Maple reached out with her left hand, "[Ensnare]!"

"Oh no!" the boy cried out as the ground quickly shattered beneath him. Vines just like those of Vialan quickly wrapped themselves around him, easily binding him to the ground as he struggled to escape.

"Please, let me out, I'm really sorry for doing that!" He shouted as Maple approached him, "Please don't kill me!"

"Uh, I, uh, what were you doing? Did you just try to steal from me?"

"N-No! I just saw something-"

"**Grrrrrrr…." **The deep growl came from Syrup, three heads positioning in attack mode. They were ready to pounce upon the little boy, eliminate him for such a transgression against Mother.

"Sorry, but Syrup doesn't think you are telling the truth." Maple solemnly answered to him, "Do you have family?"

"I won't tell you where they are!"

"But I can't let you go without a proper scolding. Uh, I think." Maple took a moment to herself in thought, turning towards the crowd of onlookers that formed, "Uh, are there any guards here?"

No one said a word, all of them simply looking at her with a small dash of fright. Few did a motion, if at all really. They were all simply onlookers to the small amount of entertainment that they could rarely get during such a ruined state of affairs.

Maple could not help but swallow at the sight. No one here was really in the right minds, and this encounter was long enough that someone of authority should have shown up. The realization brought a windy chill right up her spine, easily doing more damage than a sword ever could.

Maple went ahead and released the boy from the vines, however before he could run Syrup gave a subtle growl towards him causing him to freeze in place.

In and out, in and out. Maple controlled her breath for a moment before speaking, "Then for punishment I want your help."

"W-with what!?"

Maple thought for a moment, thinking back to everything she had. The dozens of skills she had already accumulated, each one capable of doing vast amounts of change for these people. Then an idea lit itself inside of her head.

"Uh, could you get some seeds or something? I need them for my task."

"Seeds? How would I get seeds!?"

"Oh, is that so…" Maple looked around for a moment, the harsh eyes of everyone upon her, "Uh, could you lead me to a field or something? You know, where people grow food?"

"W-why would I do that?"

Maple could not help but feel a slight bit of irritation talking to the boy. However now was not the time to get angry, a slight sigh escaping her mouth.

"Because I want to help everyone here."

The boy looked at Maple with a questioning glare, one that could pierce a person who did not tell the truth. However, he did not feel any spite from her, simply her being a person slightly older than himself. While she kind of looked like an adventurer, she seemed different to the others who came before.

"A-alright. Follow me, and don't you get any ideas!"

"Shouldn't I be saying that though?" Maple noted while scratching her head.

Once the two and the creature left the area, the crowd began to disperse. While most simply went back to their homes, a small few decided to follow. This was their reality where following a heavily armored girl and her escort was more entertaining than watching two Rats fight over edible flies.

In one of the alleys nearby a pair of green eyes observed the full commotion and soon grew curious. They decided to tag along with the small crowd staying far in the back to cover themselves.

It did not take long for both groups to reach the field. The largest obstacle were the remains of the once proud gate of the modest city. Now fully seeing what should have been a proper field where wheat and grain was supposed to grow, Maple could see clearly why this place was truly suffering.

Instead of healthy green stocks of wheat, the land was completely covered in ash. Massive holes littered through the landscape, each easily larger than a normal man. Why even as Maple stood here, there was an inkling that something foul might soon take hold over this place. Maple thought of how many must have died here in this place. She wondered how it feel for her escort when he was really still just a kid.

For now, the past would have to wait and she had a job to do. Honestly, what she was going to do was a gamble on her part. She never got a chance to test those abilities from Vialan, but now was not really her time to think about it.

Maple reached over to one of the packs that rested on Syrup's back, taking out her knife. After taking in a deep swallow, the Shield Hero gently poked the tip of her finger. The tip of the knife started to form steam, showing the dangerous toxins already eating at it. Within only a second's notice Maple flung her arm about, small droplets of her blood landing upon the ground before everyone.

"Well, here goes. [Blood of Plant Life]!"

Having closed her eyes once she pricked herself, she opened them to the sight of green returning to where her blood landed. The green then started to grow rapidly. Healthy wheat rocketed out of the ground like a series of spears that would pierce the heavens.

"Yata! It Worked! See!" With joy going through her entire body, the Hero of the Shield quickly laid the blade to her hand and sliced a nice groove into it. She was experiencing a high unlike no other, one that heroes upon battlefields experience when they _knew_ their duty would change the lives of those around them.

With a wound now cleanly opened, Maple simply allowed the vitae to fall upon the ground. Within the next moment the ground below her grew green, quickly expanding in all directions.

Roots and steams of once dead wheat became animated, the leaves and stalks blocking the soil below her. Quickly did they rise, embracing the subtle sunlight that shined upon the ground around her. The wheat quickly dried, turning to a color unmistakably that of Gold and the greatest yield of seeds any within the crowd had ever seen.

Within that crowd was the daughter of the Burgermeisters, her green eyes looking upon the miracle being performed before her. Her thinning stomach bgan growling at the delectable food about her. To her, and everyone about her, that girl in such wicked armor had somehow brought life back into the fields of their city.

It was obvious to them she had to be one of the Great Heroes, maybe even an Angel sent by the Gods themselves in such trying times.

The Golden Miracle of the Shield Saint, that is what this event would be called to those hundreds of years from now. Evidence of her Divine power against the catastrophe that waves wrought.

For Rishia, the daughter who we see such a miracle in front of her eyes, felt her feet already moving. While her soul told her to stay and watch such an act save the lives of her people, her mind and honor instructed her to move. To flee so that she can tell her father what has happened!


	14. Ch 14: Monsters in the Wheat

The calm of a sunny day overtook the Hero's room with golden rays dancing upon her eyes as if angels urging those still asleep to wake. She could not resist the call, and slowly she opened her eyes to a miniature Syrup sleep next to her pillow.

Maple rubbed her head a little, lethargy still aching throughout her entire a quick look at the active status queue, she saw that the [Anemic] debuff finally ended.A mmall smile grew upon her face as she reflected on her accomplishment yesterday.

She had for the most part worked past time when the sun set, using her passive buff to grow as many plants as she could. The Hero would tell you later she had only done a few acres of land, when in reality she did about 200 acres total. It was only during the last few hours where even though her HP was almost full, she had received a debuff that slowly made her sleepy and almost slept right where she stood.

Speaking of which, why was she in a room anyway?

Maple took a moment to look around, the bedroom looking quite simple. There was a dresser at one corner, along with another bed that was situated next to hers. There was no one in it, of course, but as the windows were open Maple assumed that the place was surely in use.

Well, then again she was resting in here so maybe it was not occupied. The Silly Maple knocked on her head to rid of such a silly thought.

"Kyu?" Woken from her stirring, Syrup slowly raised its heads to look at her. Maple couldn't hold back and opened her arms for the little Abomination to roam into her calming embrace.

"Oh you're so cute, Syrup!" She exclaimed while holding it tight, "Do you know where we are?"

"Kyu!" One of the heads responded before stretching itself into the air, "KYU KYU KYU!"

The small creature noise was like a bell was ringing in the room, causing sounds to erupt from the other side of the door. Soon enough the sound of footsteps could be heard running up what seemed to be a staircase and through a hallway. Within a moment, the door swung open to reveal a small girl with green hair and eyes stampeding into the room.

"Fyee! Is something happening!? Are there intruders!?" Soon though the girl looked at Maple, fright soon turning to realized calmness followed by a cheery smile, "You're awake! Thank goodness!"

"Uh, yeah I'm awake. Uh, where am I?"

"You are in the Ivyrd Manor!" She exclaimed with a great big smile, "You collapsed in the waterways between the Roice and Bugand fields, we were lucky that you're beast was able to carry you because of all your armor."

"Oh, is that so? Thank you for getting me over here." The Hero admitted while scratching the back of her head. Maple shifted slightly in the bed, finally noticing she was still equipped in said armor, "Uh, why did no one take my armor off?"

"Well we tried to take it off but…" the girl's eyes slowly shifted towards the Abomination, "Your beast would hiss whenever we tried."

"Is that so? Thank you for looking out for me Syrup!" Maple turned a smile to the beast. The three heads pridefully raised themselves into the air as if pumping out their chests towards her.

"Well, uh," the girl soon gained a small blush all about her face, "Would you like to have some breakfast with us! Its just now being served!"

"Sure! I guess we can head that way right now." Maple slid herself out of the bed, trying her best to not accidentally tear the sheets with her armor.

They exited the room, Maple quickly noticing a singular man standing outside the door. His features were older, attire that of a butler. There was no meat upon his older bones, and as he followed step behind them Maple noticed his step was slightly wobbly.

As Maple was guided through a variety of rooms, the place itself seemed to not have a proper hallway. From her own knowledge, such styles were similar to older japanese houses. A hallway was simply a waste of space so you would simply have to go through a great many rooms to get to your destination. All in all, Maple counted three.

The three descended the main stairs, which led them to a very large center room. Rishia made her way across the room and through a small side door with Maple quickly followed behind.

"Is everything alright Rishia?" a man sitting on a rather small table called out, "Oh, she's awake!"

The man quickly stood up with a soft spoken smile, though Maple quickly noticed something was slightly off about the man. He looked haggard, clothes were covered in tears and were warned down in other areas. Secondly, he looked to have missed quite a few days of sleep, dangerously in fact! Though with the amount of paperwork in front of him, Maple was starting to see the reason why.

"Come, take a seat at the table. Mr. Trace, can you serve an extra egg along with the loaf of bread?"

The butler simply nodded, making his way towards a door that was to the right of the room. With permission given, Maple took a seat that was emptied. Though she could not help but notice that there was another chair simply empty of no one to sit in.

"Miss, I honestly do not know who you are but you have saved my town from starvation." Were the first words he announced sitting down in his chair, "I am Mayor Roland Ivyred, the one who oversees this city for his majesty directly."

"Well I'm Maple." She announced cheerfully with a smile, soon settling herself at the table.

Within only a few moments the butler came out with a pair of plates. As he was going towards the Mayor, Roland simply shook his head. As if understanding what he meant, the man placed an emptied plate in front of Maple.

"My apologies if I do not have much, but only a little while ago we barely had any food as is." Roland scratched the back of his head, "With what you have done, we can at least last for a few more weeks."

"Only a few weeks?" Maple felt her brow raised from the man's solemn face. She did not know much about feeding a population of people, but she tried her best to think of things to ask, "Uh, do you still need to worry about Winter?"

"Indeed, Winter will be a time of great turmoil. The food situation is not our only problem." His eyes shifted towards a window light shined in from, "We have been fighting Bandits for the past few weeks as well. Many decided to strike out on their own and pillage their fellow man."

"Thats horrible!"

"Indeed, though I would have thought the monsters would kill them all already." He quickly however grew a great smile, "Within a few weeks though we should be getting support from the King himself. I sent requests for some support right after the wave, so surely he will have some time to help us."

"Oh, well uh, thats me…" Maple answered while scratching the back of her head.

Quickly enough his eyes widened, "Just you!? What's happening in the capital?!"

"Well, uh, I couldn't really say." She answered while scratching the back of her head, "He seemed really stressed out last time I saw him."

"Well, I would have wanted more if I'm going to be honest. However, I thank you for coming over to help save my people. To send a person who performs miracles might be exactly what we need." The Lord lowered his head, though luckily not low enough to bash it against the table.

"You're welcome." Maple answered with a great smile upon herself, "Though I can't be here for that long, in about a week I need to return to the capital for something."

"A week? I might be asking for too much but surely you can stay longer." Worry seemed to consume the man's face, "If that's the case, we would not be able to make it through Winter!"

"It doesn't mean I can't come back!" Maple announced while raising her hands, "I can see about coming back after the Wave hits."

"There's going to be another Catastrophe! Miss Maple, while I may be happy for you to be here, but surely those who will be recently afflicted will take precedence over us."

Hearing his words, Maple thought to herself. While this is a task given to her, the king might order her to go somewhere when the same thing happens somewhere else.

"Well, lets see what happens." Was about all Maple could answer the man with.

With those words said, the butler came by and gave the man his breakfast. However, Maple noticed how it had even less food than even hers.

-{Page Break}-

The sun was high in the air as people started to bustle around. Large bushels of wheat were being carried from person to person like a fireman's water line. It had become a race to the grainery as the peastentry were trying their damndest to get food on the table by night's end.

For Maple, she was taking a slight break from the work to watch over things. The Anemic trait once again popped up on her Hud, and since the Hero did not want to collapse again she was taking the lunch break while petting Syrup.

"Fue, Miss Maple!" the voice caused the Shield Hero's head to turn her.

It was a figure completely wrapped in cloth, her identity concealed very well. However what got Maple's stomach to slightly ache was when her eyes laid on the lone loaf of bread resting in her arms.

"Oh, thank you Rishia!" Maple gave the other girl a smile before recieving the bread itself. A smile appeared on her face as she tore it three and handed one to her, "Here, since you brought it you should get some."

"A-are you sure? You're the one who is doing so much work."

"Yup! I'd collapse again if you didn't get this for me!"

Maple tossed the half loaf back forcing the girl to juggle it for a moment. Maple made sure to give the other part to Syrup, the abomination snatching it before allowing the three heads to all consume it whole.

So they ate, looking over the fields that looked to be a golden sea. It was definitely quite the sight, a small well of pride emerging from Maple's heart upon looking at it. The bread she ate was sweet, though she could not help but noticed it had an odd taste to it.

[Genetic Manipulation detected: Poison and Disease Resistance already achieved.]

"Huh, that was weird."

"What's weird?" Rishia said with a tilting head at Maple.

"I… don't really know." Though as she finished answering that, a small hiss started to grow from Syrup, "Huh, did you see something?"

"F-Fue! Something is in the wheat!" Rishia cried out and pointed at a spot near the line of men working.

Sure enough, Maple could see a series of indentations in the grass, just as if something was walking through it. From here, she could see about ten of them!

"What could those be? Monsters?" Maple rose quickly from her spot, Syrup quickly enlarging itself in preparation for battle.

"I-I don't know! B-but we need to save the workers!"

"Perfect, hop on then!" Maple called out as she ran up and placed herself on Syrup's shell.

"I-I don't think that would be good! I'm not much of a fighter you- FUEE!" Rishia, for all her wits, did not expect the Syrup to quickly bite onto her, throwing the little girl onto its back. With all its passengers loaded, it made a bee-line for the stalking things.

"YEEPEE!" Maple cried as they were crossing what was a kilometer in only a minute, "Alright Rishia, I'm going to add you to the party! Be sure to click accept!"

"FUEEEEE!"

"Perfect, now do you want a dagger, hammer or maybe a sword! Oh! Do you want to cast spells! I got this awesome bow for that!"

"FUEEEEE!"

"Alright here's the bow! Just stay on Syrup's back until we take out all the monsters."

"FUEEEEE!"

In all of her cries Rishia was equipped with a bunch of stuff that just ended up in Maple's inventory. Since she was partied up with Syrup, whenever the beast went on hunts she would of course occasionally receive items that were related to its kills. So, she simply gave Rishia a [Balloon Poking Bow].

For the peasants working, the sight of a monster the size of a horse was enough to get them into running away. As the rout was occuring, these stalkers quickly tried to seize the opportunity and kill as many as possible.

Pandemonia was taking over, but as the monsters left the safety of their wheat grown cover a chill crept up their backs. Corrupted purple eyes turned to behind them, easily seeing the monster charging. It was not the monster itself that gave them pause, but the one who rode upon its back.

_The One who Eats the Living. _

Maple quickly saw a great many of them flee in opposing directions, a frown growing on her face, "Oh come on, how are we going to kill them if they run away?"

"R…. round… them up…. Fueee."

"Oh that's a perfect idea Rishia! Come on Syrup, lets round them all up!"

"KYA!" With a sharp chirp the abomination quickly ran about the field, creating a semi-circle indentation within the wheat. Without any choice, the monsters began to move to the right, which laid a ditch like water-way.

Soon they were flushed out of the wheat, many of them sent tumbling in the grassless ditch. Maple looked over them for about a moment, seeing they were some weird versions of boars and wolves for the most part. However, what struck her as odd was the purplish glow that they all seemed to emanate from their spots.

"Alright, here we go!" She cried out while throwing herself towards the small group, "[Ensnare]!"

With her cry, a group of three were completely wrapped up in a series of vines. The others tried to make a quick escape, but were quickly set upon by the Horse sized abomination who was getting quite sick of eating just bread.

Without anywhere to go, the monsters all turned towards their attacker. With a barbaric charge the boars and wolves threw themselves forward and at Maple.

"[Horned Rabbit Queen Shield]! [Bullrush]!" Maple happily cried out while pointing the weapon towards the onslaught. With a sudden glow, she was sent forward to crash into the attackers. With that simple move, her Shield ended two of their lives by being impaled, while the others quickly became injured.

For Rishia, well she had finally regained some sense of sanity. Though it only took her a moment to realize she was not where she was supposed to be. Things had quickly turned from a lax picnic to what she could only describe as a battlefield. She shakily raised the bow and pulled the string, the weapon somehow producing an arrow on its own. While confusion was paramount she decided to yell, "F-FIRE!"

A bolt was sent flying from the arrow from nowhere slamming into one of the Boar. There was a soft popping sound, which later was found to be the sound of a skull being opened.

"Good job Rishia!" Maple announced while defending from the remaining three who were still attacking, "Once we are done, we can cook all of them!"  
"C-cooked!?"

"Yup!" Maple answered with a smile while bashing into one of them again, "Oh I can already taste them!"

While Rishia was cowering in panic, the girl did not have much else to go on, so she kept firing, "F-FUEE!"

And another skull popped to the [Balloon Popping Bow].

"Great, let's take care of these guys now, [Shield Bash]!" Maple quickly slammed her shield into the monster's face, the spikes easily making direct impact. With that one taken care of, she moved the shield off to the side and swiftly ripped into the other's neck.

And just like that, the monsters were all dead. Those who had been ensnared and four others were eaten by Syrup who delighted in such a meal. Rishia could only gawk at the rate they had eliminated the menace.

"Yata! Meats back on the menu Syrup!" Maple announced while the abomination cued in joy.

"Y-you are going to eat the monsters!?" Maple turned to see a rather confused Rishia, almost a look on her face.

"Uh, am I not supposed to?" Maple simply tilted her head to the Noble.

"Are you not afraid of being infected with something? Th-they are glowing!"

Well Maple took a moment to look at the carcusses of the fallen boars and wolves, and just as Rishia said their blood was glowing something akin to radioactive purple, "Well, I kind of get what you mean but we can't just waste this."

Maple quickly took out the butcher's knife and gave a nice slice near the shoulder and quickly removed the skin. Such a kind gift from Erhard, a knife that can slice through flesh without dulling. Maple had to count herself lucky that said knife was not one of the things her Shield disallowed. She could only hope it was limited to weapons.

"Alright, now for some fire!" And with that she took out a small fire starter trinket and activated it. Rishia watched in wonder as Maple torched the slab of meat with ease, the smell of cooked meat already coming into the air.

After about five minutes of continuous magic the fire slowly dwindled away, leaving nothing but a patch of charred grass and boar shoulder. Maple happily walked over to the shoulder and lugged it over Rishia.

"Alright, this is on me! Give me a moment to get you a piece!" Maple removed the charred exterior, revealing a finely cooked interior. Rishia could not help but drool as Maple placed the meat into her hands.

Without even thinking she bit into it, and by the Gods above it was a taste she had never experienced before. It was somehow a cross between the savory meat of a fully fattened cow and the sweetness of candy. They were something that should not have been mixed together so well, but Rishia could not stop herself from devouring it.

As she was eating though others were attracted to the smell. Maybe it was the curiosity of man or the rumbling in their stomachs, but those who had quickly fled from the incoming monsters looked into the water way with licking lips.

"Oops, I guess everyone is hungry!" Maple's brows were raised as she quickly looked at her knife and then the many carcasses, "Uh, if everyone can help me clean this up I can make some lunch. How does that sound?"

"W-we will do anything we can for the Saint!" One of the men cheered while running over.

Soon enough the entire mob ( about twenty people total) were working on carving the meat from the monsters. Maple simply distributed her remaining fire starters to the masses, and quickly enough everyone was on their way to making an impromptu feast. Some people have even quickly ran over and acquired some extra bread and family members to join in the meals.

Once Rishia had finished eating her meat, she looked out to see everyone already gathered. Maple ranup to her with a gigantic smile on her face.

"Hey Rishia, how many more monsters are there?"

"M-monsters? The forest is infested with them."

"Great, I know what we are going to do now!" Maple quickly ran to the top of the ditch over everyone, "Hey everyone, once we are done eating who wants to go grind some monsters?!"

While the people would normally have been terrified of the prospect, the happiness and filled stomachs has driven a few young men and women to raise their hands.

"Perfect, some to me after you are done eating and we can set up a raiding party!"

And like that, Maple had started something that never happened in this world. At least, not at the scale she was approaching things from.

**A/N: Thank you all for One Thousand Followers! At that point, I can mark this story as a resounding Success! **


	15. Ch 15: Raids and Raids

The sounds of a stampede rang in the ears of the Hero, though funny enough it sounded like the group was running away. Maple quickly hopped on the back of Syrup and chased the runaway herd. Syrup was a surprisingly fast steed compared to the monsters and eventually was positioned to prevent any attempts at an escape. Maple was not alone on the shell, Rishia was holding onto Maple for dear life as Syrup was somehow traveling faster than she had experienced before.

"This way Rishia?" Maple asked looking back to Rishia with a smile.

"Y-yes! W-wee don't have long." Maple felt Rishia's grip on her arm grew even stronger, so strong in fact that Maple worried she might injure herself on one of the many spikes protruding from her armor.

Within a few moments they could see the light coming out from the other side of the brush in front of them. A simple message popped in the peripheral of Maple's vision catching her attention.

[Rishia Ivyred: INCOMING!]

Not a second later they and the herd pierced out of the woods at max speed. In the place of the clearing was a new pit that the monsters started diving in head first. The pit was impressive with it being 6 feet deep and 10 feet wide, though the important part of this was the length which measured to 360 ft on the side next to the forest with two small ramps on either end of the ditch. Obviously it was not meant for a true defense, but instead a trap laid out for the slaughter of fleeing foes.

The system was in full swing: several men and women manned the pit, wooden spikes and odd swords in hand as they ran towards the numerous Boars, Wolves, and Goblins who were dumb enough to go diving in. Or were more scared of the One-That-Eats-The-Living.

As for Syrup, the mighty Abomination simply leaped over the death trap. The earth gave a rumble when Syrup returned to the earth with a hard crash. Neither of the riders fell, one was used to Syrup's antics and the other due to holding on to the other for fear of death.

"Yata, it worked! Alright Syrup, let them have it!"

Syrup had picked its heads up, an odd sound coming from the maw. Golden lightning formed in each of the mouths and was sent towards a patch of unoccupied Goblins.

As the Abomination made its way forward, Maple swiftly hopped off of its back. With her Shield in hand, she cried out, "[Cover]!" A slight glow engulfed Maple as she quickly covered what would have taken her ten seconds in a single bound, her Shield receiving the impact from a boar with a satisfying clang.

She had placed herself between what was a simple plebeian and a raging [Interdimensional Boar]. This creature was similar to ones that have been encountered before, though the snout glowing with an odd purple that seemed to be ever so radioactive. With the creature stunned, Maple swiftly bit into the creature's exposed neck, severing the head and instantly killing the beast.

It was not just Maple who was making a slaughter of the Monsters. All about her the once weakened towns folk drove spears into the Monsters and were able to overwhelm them two to one. There was an ease to how the town folks were quick to aim and hit the vital areas of their prey.

With such a force, most of the Monsters were able to fight back. Some did manage to get off a ram attempt, but those were soon ganged up upon by the villagers.

As the massacre started to wind down, Maple raised her head to look over everyone, "Looks like your plan worked really well Rishia!"

"Y-yeah it did." She meekly answered as those present cried in victory.

"Do you all have it handled here? It's getting a little late."

"Y-yes, everyone's got things handled here."

"Perfect, let's go!"

With a small hop Maple got herself onto the top of Syrup, the beast still growing an even bigger. At this point, the Abomination was at least two horses tall. And what made Maple both confused and maybe a little happy was it hasn't even hit level 20 yet!

The ride back to the mansion was mostly uneventful, as they passed the people finishing up their work in the fields. A group of them had stopped harvest and were starting to walk towards something in the field with their weapons drawn. The workers in the field and everyone else in the town was carrying some kind of weapon. Most were wooden spears made from the branches in the nearby forest but some were from mob drops that Maple randomly received and the tools that they used in the field.

While she could not tell much from here, she could tell that they were encircled a section of field. With whatever it was they were surrounding, they all advanced into the spot with a rush and attacked.

The sound of wolves being killed rang into the air.

[+15 xp, Rusted Interdimensional Sword Added]

"Did the Monsters always attack people in the Fields?" Maple could not help herself from asking.

"Well, sometimes." Rishia answered with a courtesy glance at the same event taking place, "Though it was more common for farmers to be attacked by Bandits until a week ago."

"Yeah, you Father said there were Bandits. Where are they?"

"I… don't know." Rishia slowly lowered her head with a solemn expression, "Ever since you came they never attacked us."

"Yeah… I guess that is a good thing though right?"

"Indeed."

With that they traveled to the walls of the City. Within the week that Maple was here, the old gates have finally been cleared away and replaced with large wooden walls. Such walls did not move very well, and as far as Maple knew they were only supposed to be placeholders. Any replacements would take anywhere from a few months to a year to be finished.

"Saint Maple, are you turning in for the night?" the man who manned the front gate asked with a smile.

"Y-yup." Maple grew an unsteady smile, "Uh, sorry Syrup but you are going to need to shrink."

Responding to its master, the Abomination shrank and fitted itself through the simple crack left within the crack was only as large as a horse, but since the city had been devastated nothing larger than a small horse drawn cart would be able to travel between the fields and town.

Soon they were inside, the sight of people bustling about. Most were hard at work, either creating spears to use as weapons, processing of recent kills, or making some wheat from the fields. When they passed, everyone gave Maple a smile and a hand wave, just like one would an army returning home from a victorious war.

"Uh, Rishia…" Maple called out to her friend with a blush red face.

"Hmm?"

"W-why is everyone looking my way so much," She humbly looked down with a pout, "And call me a Saint…"

"Well because you are a Saint!" Rishia answered with a smile though she quickly noticed Maple's face getting even redder than it was before, "F-fue! You help us out so much why wouldn't we call you one!"

"It's… embarrassing…"

"Well, uh, lets get home! I am sure Father had something cooked for us already!"

The mention of food quickly made Maple drool. Embarrassment for her was below to the need of food, and with an unending stomach she would never truly be satisfied with eating.

"Let's go then!"

"Right!"

With that they returned to the Manor that stood among the series of Guilds Halls in the middle of the city. For the quality of the outside, nothing much has changed sans the pair of guards standing guard outside.

As they walked in, the pair could smell their dinner already coming out to the table. Coming into the room, they saw the Father sitting peacefully with a small stack of papers next to him.

"Oh, Maple, welcome back!" He announced with a smile, "I have heard there were several successful raids today?"

"Yup!" Maple announced while taking a seat for herself, "We were able to get about 25 boars in total. But there are still so many of them."

"Is that so, I can't really say I understand how the Monsters think honestly. Maybe it was because of not understanding the monsters that it took several days to put down the Wave."

"Several days?"

"Indeed, it was a… harrowing experience." He admitted with a slight frown, "As I understood it, they were only put down when the largest of them all, a Three Headed Hound, was slain in combat."

"I will keep that in mind…" Maple began to stew on the information as the Butler came from the kitchen. Upon the plates presented were a combination of bread and sausage, something that was now plentiful in the city.

Most of the people at the beginning of the food surplus came dowm with a harsh stomach ache , but people had found that eating it with 'Saint Bread' seemed to settle one's stomach. It was rumored to be another Miracle of Saint Maple, though whenever Maple heard that she felt embarrassed about the claims.

As they were well into the meal the father seemed to have a sudden realization, "I received a message from the Royal Court today, it seems the King himself wishes to see the recovery of our city."

"Really!?" Rishia cried with widening happy eyes, "Why would he come out of his way to see us?"

Mayor Ivyrid simply gave a shrug of the shoulders, "He said it was supposed to be an inspection. What he was hoping to inspect, I could not say for certain. Uh, Maple would you by chance know?"

The group turned to the Hero, who was in the middle of eating her second serving of food. If she was not so preoccupied with food, she would have started having a coughing fit over the news.

Luckily she was able to finish what she was chewing, "Well, uh, he might be checking out what I have done. We don't really have the best relationship."

"Is that so, well he is a good man so whatever problem that you two have I am sure he will forgive you in time."

At such an idea, Maple tilted her head, "What do you mean by that?"

"Him being a good man?" the Mayor gave a hearty laugh, "Well he was the reason we won the Great Siltvelt War."

Maple pondered on what the mayor said, "I think I've heard about a war. What is that war exactly?"

"You don't know about it? Well, I guess you might have been a parent's dream when it happened. Really all you need to know is that Siltvelt, a Kingdom that is roughly west of here through the Oraughast Swamp, tried their best to take over both Melromarc and Faubley."

The man laid back in his chair a little, "They had successfully overran Faubley when the King, only a simple lad in the levies, took the Staff from the recently deceased hero and led a counter offensive against the Demi-Human Horde. After that, he would lead as a General until he married the Queen when the war officially ended."

"I guess he did a lot." Maple answered the spew of information given to her.

"Indeed he did." The older man sighed with a smile, "The man even held off from having children until after conflicts ended. It would be after the throwings of the Siltvelt scum that the First Princess Malty was born to him."

As the man finished talking about the King, Maple could only wonder what must have happened to the man. Was it simply that being a War Hero not make him a good King, she didn't really think about it much more to know.

"Well me and Syrup are going to go to bed, thanks for dinner!"

"I-I'll be there in a few minutes Maple!" Rishia announced while quickly scoffing down the rest of her plate.

"Alright, see you then!" Maple and the Chibi sized Syrup rushed down the hall and went to their beds.

Maple quickly went up the staircase and through the rooms, landing herself inside of their shared bedchamber. Maple had taken the bed on the right closest to the window, while Rishia had the one to the inside.

They were not the most comfortable things on the planet, Maple would admit, but they were surely better than sleeping on the going through her night routine and wishing Rishia night Maple settled in. However, neither Maple nor Rishia were aware of the happenings outside.

What could have first been mistaken as wind battering the window did the noise eventually stop. There was not even an audible click as the assailant slowly lifted the window open.

The assailant paused a few seconds to see if they had awakened the occupants inside then proceed to go in when nothing stirred inside. Darkness seemed to encapsulate their entire form as they shifted slowly towards the beds. Their eyes looked over the faces of Rishia and Maple, though they easily put their attention on the latter.

Slowly the person drew a dagger and an amulet, both made of some type of Gold and Silver. Ritualistic they were intended to be, and the person held the amulet close giving a swift prayer.

They quickly raised the dagger above their head, eyes targeting upon the neck.

However as the weapon descended, the victim's eyes flashed open as she raised the Shield against the attacker. There was a sharp ring through the room, and without even thinking Maple did what was only natural.

"[Devour]!"

The Shield she boor became animated, easily consuming the upper half of the assassin. The amulet and the ritual dagger feel to the floor near the bed. It had all happened so swiftly that Rishia and Syrup were just waking up as the remains of the body fell to the ground.

"..."

"..."

"..."

All stood in the room for a few moments, their eyes plastered to the corpse as it spewed the last bits of human blood. It was a surreal state that Maple was in where only a few seconds ago she was deep in sleep.

Before they could even utter a noise, the sounds of men screaming could be heard outside their window. Half lucidly Maple wandered over and looked outside. All she could see was a large ball of fire where the gates she entered just last evening were.

~~PT 3~~

It was just its luck that a freaky huge moth was making its ways to outer space and was caught up in the wind behind it. That thing came out of nowhere for the Entity and was going like there was a flame on its tail or something.

Know its luck it will somehow die in now a second world (universe?) in a stupid way. Its looking like that might be suffocating in space due to Overgrown furry butterflies.

The thing did not know how much time passed and banked that maybe it was able to live without air when the speed it was moving started going faster. The Entity hoped it was the moth coming back so it could go inside it and stab it to death. The speed though started going faster and faster as if free falling back down to the ground. The Entity was not able to form eyes to see what was going on with its material so far apart, but the pressure around its parts started getting stronger.

Suddenly, something collided with its dust particles and somehow made the entity think that maybe it got a concussion. As dust.

When thinking was finally in order the Entity realized it had stopped moving with something nearby so it morphed to see what it was dealing with. All around it was a strange crystal rock. It was hard to tell if the crystal were white or due to the type of light here it was a different color, but something else caught the Entity site. It could feel material on this rock base that it could use to form another body. A plan began to form in Entity's mind.


	16. Ch 16: Heroes and their Hearts

Maple was terrified, that was an easy way to put things. Not only did she have blood on her hands, the corpse was still sitting in the middle of the room for all to see. Rishia too was there, stunned at the fact someone snuck into their room just to assassinate the person who saved their city.

However, as Maple looked out to see the great fires where the gates were, her terror was starting to be matched by another feeling. All about her vision, the series of health bars belonging to those who she had helped were slowly draining to nothingness.

And then she received a message.

[Tom Humperdinck has died to a Bandit]

Fear was soon overshadowed by altruism, the desire to do the right thing.

"Syrup! We need to move!"

"Kue!"

With the command Syrup quickly enlarged, the abomination quite literally destroying the wall with his sheer size. Maple quickly got onto its back, the pair soon flying out into the fire filled night.

The streets were filled with people trying to get away from the wall, though Maple quickly noticed they were mostly just young children and the occasional elderly. Instead most of the townspeople were grabbing a variety of wooden spears and armaments in order to better stab the enemy who dared attack their homes. Fear was written on all their faces though, because who would not be in such a situation.

Her coming however brought cheers, people trying their best to keep up with Syrup as a spearhead. Maple herself honestly did not really know what to make of such a situation but she was not going to go against getting reinforcements.

The sights of the flaming gate soon came into Maple's vision, the sight of men fighting all around it quickly taking her attention. Though as they came across the men, Maple quickly realized what exactly was happening.

These were probably the bandits that had been attacking the city before she arrived.

You can say for certain that Maple was something closer to a pacifist when it came to fighting man. However, when push came to shove, these people were attacking the city without warning and were likely trying to destroy everything that these people and Maple worked to rebuild.

In the end, she decided to fight. While she would regret it if any of them died, Maple knew once she let Syrup and herself go there was no telling how many would actually survive.

"Syrup, use Chaos Breath!" She commanded the Abomination with an authority found in a commander.

The three heads soon animated, weird glows forming from all their mouths. The Bandits who were fighting had no chance in defending themselves as the creature released torrents of poison, acid, and lighting across the battlefield.

"GAH!"

"FUAAH!"

"WHAA!"

And just like that the Abomination created the apocalypse on orders of its Master.

While Syrup was terrorizing the bandits who made it in, Maple quickly hopped off the beast and dashed through the field. With a combination of skills and her own now modest dexterity, Maple was finally able to arrive at the gates, the fire making it almost unbearable.

However, through the roars of fire was the sounds of fighting from the other side, meaning Maple needed to get there.

It only took her a moment to realize what she should do, and quickly she got onto one of the nearby wagons, just close enough to the gate for her idea.

"[Horned Rabbit Shield]!" She declared, transforming the Shield in her hands into a nasty looking face. With that, she hopped off the wagon, "[Meteor Strike]!"

Maple replicated the attack against the Entity from before, her speed equaling that of a meteorite slamming into the earth. As expected, the ability destroyed the gates, easily snuffing out any of the fire that was already covering it.

Maple herself got up from a crater, her sight evening itself upon the confusion filled eyes of all the bandits and guards who were in the area.

"GRAAAAAH!"

From behind Maple came Syrup, who had finally hit level twenty. Such a level was a turning point, meant to signify that normal creatures reached adulthood. While it would surely still grow, right now Syrup was just barely fitting through the gates.

Though now that Maple thought about it, "You are all to flee this town! If you don't, I will have Syrup eat all of you!"

Upon Maple's words the Bandits all fled like the cowards they were, quickly making their way back north to spread the word of a monstrous little girl.

But unlike the loser, the guards and citizens who were fighting outside cheered, along with those who were still coming in to help.

For Maple herself, she was still a little shaken on what in the world just happened. Even now her mind was tired and her will was exhausted.

-{Line Break}-

The sounds of dirt being kicked up could be heard underneath the carriage as they traveled North. Of course, there was magic that made such a rough journey all the more stable and easy to trek, but Autoclay missed being able to ride a horse.

"Are you sure you want to do this my Lord? There is too many things that need your approval and-"

"Shut up already, I know exactly what I am doing."

"But sir we-"

"I am your King, so I ask you to shut up!" Aultcray growled from the bottom of his stomach.

The Priest finally silenced himself, much to his delight. In this carriage Aultcray was riding, he was surrounded by three other officials. Each and every one of them were trying to stop him from going, from Lawrence messing his carriage velat to this damn Priest pestering him every moment.

"I-"

"Stop this damn carriage!" As if responding to his bark, the entire carriage came to a halt. With a fit of anger, the King kicked out the door that was supposed to be only handled by servants. However, he could not stop himself from looking undignified as he strutted out of the door and onto the open field.

"My King, is everything alright!" Quick to respond, one of the guards quickly came to see Aultcray's sudden departure, "It is too dangerous out here, the Forest are rumored to be filled with monsters!"

"I feel like there are even more fucking monster in that damn carriage. Get me a fucking Fiola!"

"Y-Yes sir!" Called out a soldier who was brought to attention.

There were about to be words of protest coming from inside the carriage, but before they could even open their mouths again he made sure to slam the fucking door in their faces. Why he would have barred their door if there was any way of doing so.

"Sir, your Filorial." Announced the soldier as he brought up a rather stout looking beast. Aultcray could only smile as he mounted it, such a beast was always able to strike the fear into his enemies and might into his allies.

"Uh, can I ask why you are outside of the carriage sir?" The guard who brought his steed asked with a worried face, "While it might be easier for you to act like this, surely it would be safer inside."

"I am not as fragile as you fellows make me out to be. Now how much longer till we arrive at the town anyways?"

"In another half hour, King Aultcray!"

"So we are that close? Get me five men with Fiola, I tire of this damn road already."

"Understood your Majesty, it will only take me a moment!" the guard quickly went off, quickly rounding up men for Aultcray's personal entourage.

Within only a few moments the men were gathered, and Aultcray was on the run. It was natural for their steeds to love this kind of ride, so there was no wines or pains coming from the beasts of burden. For the men, well many were trained correctly under the Royal Warden to always serve Aultcray's Wife, and in proxy himself. There was no option for them to bicker.

Soon though Aultcray noticed the land around him, and they only made him take greater haste.

All about him were fields of wheat, which were obviously ready for harvest burnt down into a crisp. Houses looked to have been ransacked with people carrying out obvious corpses out of them. And the smell in the air.

What the hell has the Shield Hero done to his people!

"Men, widen out and prepare your weapons!" The once Great General barked with his [Royal Authority], "Prepare for a charge if the situation calls for it!"

Easily enough the men followed his lead, no longer in a defensive formation but forming a shallow line. Such a formation was meant to not only give Cavalry better presence, but it made whatever impact all the harder when they hit.

However battle never came, instead the sights of dwindling fires came upon the horizon. It was only to Aultcray's surprise that people stood in front of the gate, looking to be on guard for whatever attack came their way.

It was obvious to both Aultcray and his men there were no hostiles here, as many of those guarding were dressed in peasant garments. With a strong pull, the King brought his beast to a halt right before it would have made contact with the group.

"Lower your weapons for I am Aultcray Melromarc, your King!" He called out once more with the [Royal Authority], "I demand to know what happened here at once, and when we expect retaliation."

The Peasants all around him were stunned in awe of him, their ears hearing every word. None of course expected him to come nor do they hold any actual malice against the man. So in response one of the guards wearing a thicker tunic came to the front.

"Your Majesty! We were attacked last night by Bandits!"

"I assume you have just scared them off?"

"Y-yes sir we were able to do so!"

"Has there been a task force assembled to wipe their den out?"

"No sir, the attack was just last night as many are still wounded."

Nodding to himself Aultcray called out something hes been wondering their entire time, "And what of the Shield Hero? Did she join the bandits in their attack!?"

"The Saint of the Golden Harvest!?" The man said with words that Aultcray did not expect, "By the Heavens above no! She was the one who saved us in our time of need and pushed the bandits from our city."

"Is that so?" Aultcray looked the man up and down, his words being weighed. However she got such a name the man will never know, however no matter if they called her the Devil, Angel, or Peasant, thanks to his [Royal Authority] they knew exactly who he was saying.

Which only grew more questions which led him to the crowd, "You all, do you support this man's word? Know that if I were to find out differently than the penalty will be severe."

It seems most of those around began to nod in affirmation, the King now satisfied with those words. Melromarc was not a Paranoid man and knew he should trust his people, thus these words were acceptable.

However now was not the time to think, "Men I ask that you all search the perimeter of this City for any weaknesses and Levy any you can into arms. We shall wipe out the Bandits before they can launch another attack upon this city."

"Yes sir!"

With his orders given the men went out in all directions to search the city for recruits. While he did not really enjoy levies since they were always low level, the King knew that his detail did not have enough men for a full on assault.

"Now, take me to the Shield Hero. I will need her to serve me if we are to minimize the casualties." Aultcray demanded the crowd, and with them a trio came forward, "Lead the way men."

They followed his command of course, the three walking through the gate while the King sat on his steed. In hindsight he should have brought his men as backup, but Aultcray was anything but weak himself. Even without the Cain in hand, the man was able to shatter stone walls and defeat ten average men over.

Luckily it looks that most of the city stayed intact. The city stayed pretty well built, with man and Demi-Human working together to rebuild what was lost. Such was the result of Aultcray's victory against the Demi-Humans of Siltvelt that five counties were awarded to Melromarc. Honestly once the war was over, the King did not care what happened to the Demi-Humans.

At least, unless they were taken to slavery. Such a thing was what his wife adamantly hatted, and as her Regent Aultcray would carry out her will. He wanted to be known as a good husband to his wife, at least then he can actually see his Second Daughter at some point in her life.

Indeed the Old Man was starved for affection of his children. When was the last time Malty ever called him Papa.

"Your Majesty!" One of the men called out while standing next to a small manor, "The Shield Hero is within the Mayor's Manor here. Uh, I know it is not my place but please make sure she is doing alright."

"Why would she not be?" Were the words asked as he dismounted off the large bird.

"I heard after our victory that the Saint locked herself in a room and has yet to leave."

"She has yet to leave? Why in the world would she do that?"

"It was quite the brutal battle your Majesty." The Peasant answered before lowering his head, "She saved us though, so we are in her eternal debt."

"You are understood, now leave." Aultcray demanded, to which the man did as he was told.

She was the person who violated his daughter, that much Alultcray knew. However the simple fact was the moment he stepped into this city there was nothing but praises being showered upon the stupid girl. It was irking him, but this much devotion could only come from a person who truly did as they did.

Like how could an entire town be gripped in conspiracy? Only a mad man would think such silly things.

So he walked his way into the house. The single guard who stood at the door simply making way for his Liege. The hard wooden floor came into his ears as movement all around him occurred. A butler and man looked into the hall, both almost choking as they saw Aultcray walk his way up the staircase.

Call it a feeling, but he knew where the girl was.

"Maple, are you okay? I brought some food for you." The King heard from the other side of the hall as he finally made it up the staircase, "Still no response…"

Standing there was a little girl with green hair, not unlike his second daughter. However as Melty would always let her hair flow this girl instead had them in braids. However it only took the King a moment to realize her stature seemed more to her being quite a bit short than young like his daughter.

It was after he made this realization that he was noticed, "F-f-fuee fue fue fue! I-!"

"Is this where the Shield Hero currently resides?" Aultcray demanded with his eyes burrowing into the little girl.

"Yes!" She cried in surprise as Aultcray finally arrived infront of the door.

"Leave us." Aultcray stated, and there was really nothing Rishia could do against it. Like a mouse being seen by a cat, she quite literally ran down the hall and staircases in a sprint. For some reason this town seemed to respond to his Authority better than everyone in the Captial. At this rate he might just move here so that his voice would surely be heard across the lands once again.

With those thoughts, he opened the door without any care for decency, and immediately was welcomed by the slight of a massive creature. Nine heads looked down upon Aultcray, all of which seemed torn between incinerating him or simply throwing him out the window.

However, Aultcray was a King and the Hero of the Cain.

"Beast, show me your Master for I am her liege."

There was a small growl escaping from three of the heads as they neared him, such a weak and puny human who could not do anything to it. Such a beast has already killed a Dozen men just like him, how could this man fair any different.

"W-whose there?" The standoff was suddenly halted at the words coming from near the beast's stomach. Slowly coming out of it were a pair of eyes who were horribly drained of whatever sleep they should have had, "K-King?"

"Yes, I am King Aultcray Melromarc the Thirty Second." He announced without even an ounce of hesitation, "Call your beast off so that I do not need to kill it."

""S-Syrup… please no…"

The room shook for a moment as the creature seemed to think about her words. Finally however the heads began to recede as Maple simply slouched on the creature's tale.

"Sorry sir… I just need a little time to myself and Syrup right now."

Out of all the things he expected to see on the face of the Shield Hero, he never expected her to host regret. Not from the times he would imagine the terrible being who created the Demi-Humans out of lust and let them rage across the lands, nor from the few moments he saw this one appear before him in his Court.

He had seen this look however before a great many times. When the Battle of the Turning happened, and the monstrous hordes of Demi-Humans finally fled so many were dead. It was of course not very known, but both armies were cut to almost a fourth of themselves. For Aultcray he lost his squad, his commander, and soon after he learned the fate of his Sister.

Many men swore that the damned Demi-Humans never left them, that they could be waiting around every single corner waiting for a chance to strike when they were least expecting it. Three of these men even attacked their own fellows and were killed for the mistake.

However most had dead eyes, just like this little girl before him.

How many years has it been since he had seen a fellow human look at him with such eyes.

"Stand up."

"What…?"

"Stand up tall with pride, that is an order!"

Maple could not help but fallow the order, her muscles working on their own against her reluctant will. Indeed, in such a state what would the girl have against his [Royal Authority]?

"You have held yourself within these walls and your camp, nursing your wounds and fighting off the horrible terrors you have seen. But now you stand tall, and do you know the reason why?"

"I-I-"

"Its because you are alive, where several men both would and have fallen before you." Aultcray growled under his breath, "Shield Hero, I have talk to man, woman, and child upon my way here. Do you realize what it is you did for them?"

"I-I saved them."

"Indeed. You have saved them where my armies, knights, and spies have failed. So because of this deed I order you to stand tall with pride knowing that."

"I k-killed people though."

"So have I."

Maple looked at the King dumbfounded for a few moments as he shook his head, "Do you realize what it means to be a king, no, a Hero of a Holy Weapon?"

Maple could not help but widen her eyes, "Y-you're a Hero?"

"Indeed, I am the Hero of the Cain. And while I do not wield it in these frightful days back when I was young and able I carried it against the hordes who threatened all of humanity." Aultcray shook his head, "In such a battle it was not only Demi-Humans I killed though, but many times men who were either enslaved by them or saw a supposive opportunity presenting itself."

"W-why are you telling me this?"

"Because even if you are young like my own daughter, it does not excuse you from the duties of being a Hero."

The man watched the girl look at him in wonderment, just like many of the soldiers who he talked to like this. Aultcray always aimed to inspire men in their hearts, for is its fire goes out a man is nothing more than a husk.

"If it were not for the deeds done before, Maple of the Shield, you would have driven me into your debt." Aultcray admitted with a sigh, "However you serve the realm of Melromarc and her people due to it. So act as her bulwark, so much so that I have no choice but to forge me so many deeds that I will not dare recognize you as more than just a simple Hero like the others."

"W-what else would I be?"

"A person who I can depend upon, as if you prove to me your valor in the coming battles against our faceless foes I will see to it personally that your name be cheered among the masses."

"Th-thank you uh."

"Simply address me as your Majesty, for that is the right I hold. However that may change in time."

"Th-thank you, your majesty! I, uh, feel a little better."

"Indeed, though I know personally such a wound shall not heal with my words. Instead we shall temper you." Aultcray announced before turning towards the door, "Prepare for travel in an hour, for we will strike fast."

"Fast? Against who?"

**"The Traitors who attacked my City."**

* * *

**Sorry for being gone for a while, as in the mean time 500 people followed this so damn. I have been spending my time actually writing an Otome Question on 4Chan of all things, which has been a blast. However I decided to sit my ass down and get this finished. **

**In other news, I am looking for people to do commisioned work. Both for this and my 4chan Otome. If you are interested in doing this work, PM me here on FanFic and we will discuss stuff about it. Hopefully I have get a nice image for this story as well as a picture for my Otome story!**

**Thank you all for coming and I hope you all have a fantastic mother fucking 2020. **


	17. Ch 17: Massacre of the Shield Hero

Unlike the days before, the sky above everyone's heads was dreary. A sense of worry carried itself over the men who marched over the modestly tall grass. However, such a sense was overshadowed by the desire and ambition the militia held.

Revenge was what kept this group moving. Revenge for those who were killed over the past few months and all the trouble the city had to endure. For Maple revenge was also on her mind, but also whiplash for how fast everything was moving. It was only yesterday that she killed a man and even only been few hours ago was stuck in her room dreading such an outcome. Now though…

"We are two miles away from the target." Maple heard the King say. She moved over to him as he was looking over the forest covered hills, "It's a good thing we did not bring Cavalry."

"I-is that so?" Maple asked while riding the back of a shrunken Syrup the Second Serving.

"If the information from the Locals is correct, that is where I would place my main base. A great tree covered mountain is what we will be looking for." Aultcray said with certainty in his voice.

Maple just gave a nod as they approached the forest from the plains. The timber was still fairly thick even when most of the trees were burnt to a crisp. Still, the trees still stood which meant things were going to become a much tighter squeeze for Syrup.

"Come on Syrup, you need to shrink now."

"Kue!" The abomination called back as it reduced its size from a large horse to only that of a large dog. Even with the smaller size, Syrup still maintained enough strength to carry Maple on its back.

"Good idea, though I also advise you to prepare yourself." Aultcray said as he turned his eyes to Maple's mount, "There is a large chance we will be ambushed."

"A-ambushed! What will I do if that happens?!" Maple said with panic in her voice.

"Just as you will during the raid, staying at my side. Though I might be able in body, my inability to wield a weapon is a grave detriment."

"So that happens to you too?" Maple asked with a slight pity in her voice.

"...Yes" Maple noticed his eyes narrow, though she could not tell if that was from sadness or frustration.

"Well if you have the same problems, can you do game stuff?"

"Game stuff? What are you referring to?"

"Like, uh, do you see your health bar and level up?"

Aultcray seemed to ponder for a moment before giving a slow nod, "If you are referring to the Bar that dictates my Vitality, then you are correct. I do see that. Everyone in this world has levels."

"Really!? That's cool!" Maple exclaimed while finally finding a topic the King was willing to answer to, "How about making Parties?"

"Parties? Like what the Heroes call their groups of followers."

"Well, yes and no." Maple admitted while quickly pulling up a screen, "Here, I'll send you an invite to join a Party with me!"

"I am not your follower, Shield Hero." The King said while his face turned away from her face in what was obviously some prompt for him, "I will not join your Party for I am not your follower."

"Eh? Well, uh, m-maybe we are having a misunderstanding here. Parties are, like, a group of people who all want to complete a quest together. We laugh and fight together because we are not strong enough by ourselves to complete the quest!"

"Hmm," The King placed his hand on his chin for a moment of thought, "It will be interesting, seeing what kind of powers the Heroes have access to."

Maple watched as the King's information populated her display. However what came up was something she was not expecting at all.

[Luge Lansarz Faubrey: Hero of the Cane] [Lv: ?]

"Tsk, damn pesky thing." He growled as Maple too saw the wrong name being placed there. She turned to him with a minor question on the edge of her mouth when he cut her off, "Do not speak of it. Simply help me change it."

"Uh, alright. Click the little gear in the top corner and…" Maple said while guiding the man through the name changer. She of course had to do it once herself, since [Kaede Hondo] was her default apparently.

Actually, now that she thought about it, doesn't that mean Luge was his true name?

[King Aultcray Melromarc the XXXII] [Lv. ?]

The King simply gave a nodding of the head as he looked over the screen, "There, it is fixed. I can see this… Party thing allows me to see your Vitality. Is there anything else it can do?"

"Yup!" Maple announced while messing around with the setting a little more, "You can send messages to other people, assign them to a guild, and…"

It took her a bit to find what she was looking for in the menu, a smile growing on her face when she found it, 'And we can even have a voice chat!'

It seemed Aultcray could not help but widen his eyes as Maple's voice carried through to his mind. It was quite unbelievable for sure, but it took only a moment for him to realized the implications. A more fleshed out scheme came together in his mind.

"Am I able to invite others into this and assign them into groups?"

"I.. do not know." Maple admitted before looking through some options, "Oh cool, I can make you the Party Leader."

"Party Leader?" The King asked before messing with whatever just appeared in front of him. Honestly Maple had no idea what he was doing, however within a few moments the party that she made suddenly expanded to include several men of both the King's Guard and the peasants.

As they finally approached the final hill, Maple was looking over something she barely understood. The Party system she had been looking at before was heavily modified, or maybe she should be using the words perfected. The entire force they were bringing was now infront of her, each given their own section with literal lines of command displayed.

Of course the King placed himself at top, with almost all the lines directed towards him. After that plenty of other dotted lines were layered everywhere, making what was now an intricate web. The reason for them though, Maple could not tell. All she knew was that she herself had three lines, a solid one going towards Aultcray while the others were attached to what she assumed to be squad leaders.

Soon enough the voice of Aultcray ringed through her mind, 'Alright men, can you all hear me?'

In response she heard several cries of approval coming through the channels.

'Good. Go to your stations and prepare your attacks. However do not use the Flare Spells, as now we can use this system to our advantage.' Maple turned to see the King confident with himself, 'Move out!'

"Wow." Maple called out as with that command all the men broke off, each going their own separate way.

"Amazed are we?" The King said with a prideful smile upon his face, "Many of these men have each been trained under their captains, many of whom served me in the final years of the Great War. With such experience and training, they all easily follow my words to the letter and carry out my will with ease."

Indeed the man was extremely prideful about his command. Many would admit that all this pride was easily backed up with action, however, right now Maple kinda imagined his nose getting a little too long.

Indeed, such a large amount of pride was never a good thing even if you can back it up. A harsh lesson that will be learned much later.

It was not much longer as they crossed the horizon and came across the large mountain-like place. Maple was quick to note that it was only mountain-like in height, the majority of the place was covered in a thick cover of trees. There was a slightly noticeable bare spot within it, revealing the small collection of wooden structures.

Most of their forces have disappeared in the trees long ago, Maple noticed. The only two people who were actually visible to the naked eye were herself and the King, which gave a minor tug to her heart.

"Do not worry yourself." The King announced with a stern order in his voice, "The men we will be facing are not a high enough level to harm you greatly. That is why you are acting as my personal guard."

"U-understood." Maple answered while preparing her shield. Somehow that made her feel a little better, knowing that the King was relying on her thanks to her raw ability.

Maybe he was warming up to her after all.

The structure that was once so far away finally came within view for the two. Rough wooden walls obscure the small amount of buildings that were there. A single guard tower stuck out above the rest, allowing an overlook of both the compound and the exterior around it. Quickly a man became visible in the tower, and his attention was quickly taken up by the approach of his majesty and Maple.

"**Halt there you fuckers!"** The man yelled with what Maple could only assume was a megaphone, "**Turn your asses back around or be shot!"**

"Is that a way to speak to your King, criminal scum!" Aultcray announced right back at the men with a voice that carried through the air, "I give you this ultimatum! Open these walls and give us your swords, or be put through the sword."

The man seemed to have been taken aback, with a sudden chattering of murmurs reaching Maple's ears. However, they were soon followed by a series of jeers and cheers as the man seemed to regain his confidence.

"**Bullshit!" **He announced without a single hint of regret in his voice, "**That lazy ass King would not come all the way here just to arrest us! Even if we have, we have done nothing wrong except bring a few demi-humans to understand who is truly above them!"**

After that the cheers got louder, overcoming the entire compound with a dumb happiness and ignorance. Such belief in the capabilities in their overlord had brought about a stupid disbelief in the events that were occuring to them right now.

Now, a wise lord would answer back with their [Authority], the one proof they have over even heroes that they are the true monarch of these lands. A devious monarch would answer back with a final warning, neglecting to use the authority. This would have put the blame on these men without themselves knowing they had fucked up.

However, Aultcray was none of these, neither wise nor subversive. Instead he was forged in a time of unrestricted war. Where nations fought with thousands of men in a mass slaughter of revenge and retribution. His true authority was not in lineage or scheming, but of blood made on the battlefield.

Thus he gave the command without a second thought, 'Attack'.

When Maple heard the message going through her mind, she was not expecting the loud crashes coming from around the compound. The next the moment the walls around the enemy began to shatter. Systematically the walls that were separating the bandits from the rest of the world were replaced with angry men all charging the camp. The man on the guard tower did not even have a chance as a dozen of fireballs slammed into the structure, igniting it and forcing it to fall.

"Come." Aultcray called out as he started to march in front of Maple, "Have your beast shatter these walls so that you can join the battle."

"Y-yes!" The Shield Hero answered before kneeling down to Syrup, "Come on, lets go help everyone."

"Kyu!" The beast answered before releasing whatever restraints it had on size growing faster than a balloon inflating. Its massive size had easily triumphed over everyone else and the remains of the guard tower. As it did so, one of the creature's heads moved in a swift motion to remove the King from his horse.

"W-what are you doing you-!" The General cried out before being placed on the shell with Maple. The girl could not help but laugh a little at the King expression, which was somewhere in the realm of confusion, surprise, and mildly terrified, "W-what in the?"

"I think Syrup wants you up here, so you can be safe." Maple answered with a silly smile before looking over the edge, "Um, uh, I guess I should head down there right?"

"Indeed you shall," The King answered as he finally got his footing right, "The men on the eastside are in need of assistance."

"I understand." Maple answered while looking over the edge for a moment. There was the quick thought of her using [Meteor Crash], but she hesitated for just a moment. Who wouldn't, and if Maple was to go through with that idea more than just a couple of people were going to die.

In her confused state she did not notice the King creeping up on her, "Tsk, still having second guesses?"

"Y-yes!"

"There are times to talk and times where action is needed. Now I think it's time to act" He said before arriving next to her, "So get out there soldier, soldier!"

Maple, of course, did not expect the King to kick her off Syrup's back.

With her path forcibly laid out for Maple, she quickly brought the shield in front of her and braced. With the knowledge that enemies would be at her landing sight, she instinctively called out her skill, "[Meteor Crash]!"

Like a falling asteroid, the Shield Hero crashed onto the ground, causing a minor shaking of seismic proportions. Everyone who was not immediately crushed by the attack were forced to brace at the sudden impact.

"That hurt…" Maple announced while slowly crawling from her hole in the ground. Of course she was feeling bad at the fact she killed a dozen people in that single crash, but the deed was already done.

Automatically she turned her Shield to receive an attack from the right, the momentary stun finally wearing off from everyone. She was in a battle now, and slowly Maple was realizing what a battle meant.

Either take out her enemy or they will harm her and everyone she cared about.

She properly got behind her shield reengaged on the assault, "[Shield Bash]!"

And like the men who were just pulverised by Maple, the remaining bandits faced a similar fate. Those who tried to fight the Royal Guard were instantly flatlined. Those who tried to back their comrades up faced an one-sided fight against the Shield Hero's bludgeoning attacks. Those who were cowards and ran indoors were dead before they realized the giant monstrosity was breathing a poisonous attack through all the standing buildings.

"Attention people of this damned keep." Maple heard the King as he announced with his Authority, "You have been put to the sword, those who comply now will be spared from my forces. Do so and face justice!"

"Never!" A man near Maple announced as he attempted to stand against the giant that was Syrup. The Shield quickly noticed how the man's level was higher than the others she had been fighting, and even though she had leveled up a few times from the fight, the man was still a good bit above her.

However the moment he raised a weapon to attack one of Syrup's heads, Maple acted fast and started to see red, "[Shield Bash]!"

With a cry Maple crossed the entire length of the keep and slammed into the man. The man surprisingly was able to react to her attack, bringing up his sword to deflect. He gave a simple click of the tongue turning to Maple, "You some sort of Shield Devil worshipper?"

"I-I am the Shield Hero!" Maple answered back while preparing her weapon.

"You are, huh? To think the King would betray us to the Devil." The man raised his sword with a smirk, "Get ready to be cut down."

"W-why don't you surrender!?" Maple asked just moments before the man attacked.

"Why would I surrender when I am doing God's W-" He was not able to finish that sentence, as several beams of energy rained down on top of his head. It was horrifying to Maple and almost completely unfair to the man who she was about to face. Though that also placed an idea in Maple's head that she already knew for so long.

_War is not fair at all._

With (who Maple realised) was the leader dead, the rest were easy enough to mop up. The dust settled, and the only men who were standing were the one brought to clear out the bandits. There was a momentary beat as all those present were simply taking a breather from the fight they had only moments ago. It was broken only from the plop of Syrup's heads to the ground.

From one of the monstrosity's mouths spat the King, luckily not covered in monstrous solivia. There was of course the look of irritation in his eyes as he rose up and cleaned himself of the dirt from his landing.

"Swartz, were we able to take any prisoners?"

"No we were not your Majesty!" The man announced while giving a salute.

"Then we are done here, with no remains there is nothing we can search for." He announced, "Move out, all of you!"

As they began to move, the King walked up to Maple with his chest held high, "Did you have a good fight?"

"Y-yes… I think I did." She answered meekly.

"Good, if you have any nightmares about tonight I order you to talk to me or my men immediately, understand?"

"Huh? W-why?"

"Because you will."

* * *

Omake

"Halt in the name of this land!" A round object came closer to the armed guards as an accelerated speed.

"Sir, its NOT SLOWING DOWJN!"

"HOLD THE LINE! Its GOING TO STOP" Yet the object never slowed down. A pause of moment as the object kept rolling. Suddenly all the men in the group were pushed out of the way by the strange object. Some were thrown with such force to get caught in some nearby trees.

In the distance someone yelled strike. "Ohhhh Syrup, let not use cannon for the moment..."

"...eeep"


End file.
